Decarceration advocates are continuing to seek solutions toward the state’s prison conditions in lieu of legislation and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s reluctance to use her clemency powers toward currently incarcerated individuals this year.
Earlier this month, the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Solitary campaign petitioned the United Nations to investigate the state’s prison system for failing to fully implement the HALT laws, which significantly restrict solitary confinement practices.
“New York State, New York City, and other localities across New York State are engaging in egregious practices that violate their own domestic laws, as well as international human rights law, including through their use of solitary confinement, staff brutality against incarcerated people, extreme lengths of incarceration, and death by incarceration,” they wrote. “While New York’s prisons and jails have always been sites of racism, brutality, and torture, the current moment presents a particularly acute crisis where state and local officials are directly flouting their own laws to continue, cover up, and distract from their regimes of torture and abuse.”
In 2021, New York State passed the HALT laws banning prolonged solitary confinement, quantified by more than 15 consecutive days in isolation, which is regarded as torture under the U.N.’s Nelson Mandela Rules. The legislation also stops corrections officers from retaining someone in a cell for more than 17 hours for three consecutive days in most cases and prevents the practice entirely against people with disabilities or pregnancies.
On Sept. 29, the Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a nonprofit tasked by the state for DOCCS oversight, released findings suggesting the use of Special Housing Units (SHUs) or Rehabilitative Residential Units (RRUs), two forms of disciplinary solitary confinement, was more prevalent after the HALT laws passed. Such findings corroborated claims by advocates who long maintained the state never fully implemented the legislation. CANY’s findings also found that more than half of the people placed in SHUs and RRUs were Black.
Earlier this year, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) staff went on strike with calls to suspend or abolish the HALT laws. They blamed the legislation for increased violence against corrections officers, despite advocates saying the ban was never properly implemented. In July, a judge temporarily blocked DOCCS from suspending HALT.
Meanwhile, deadly violence from staff against incarcerated individuals also brought attention to prison conditions. Notably, the killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi led to demands for more oversight and beyond.
Some advocates, including from the NAACP, believe Gov. Hochul’s constitutional clemency powers can ease the conditions by releasing people, particularly those serving out excessive sentences from decades ago. They gathered on Sept. 30 outside her Manhattan office.
“Governor Hochul, now is the moment to demonstrate bold leadership by utilizing the full power of your clemency authority,” said NAACP New York State Conference director Chris Alexander. “For too many New Yorkers, justice has been replaced by excessive punishment, and their complete and total rehabilitation has been ignored by our state in favor of endlessly warehousing them in the inhumane conditions of our prisons.
“We urge you to grant clemencies boldly and immediately to individuals who have shown genuine transformation, and whose release would pose no public safety risk.”
So far in 2025, Hochul has granted clemency to 13 people. None were incarcerated at the time. To be clear, clemency does not necessitate innocence. Instead, the executive power points to mercy and fairness. As of last year, more than 1,000 clemency petitions were filed to the Governor by incarcerated individuals seeking a commutation or sentence reduction.
“Governor Hochul initiated significant systemic changes within DOCCS to improve the safety and security of everyone that enters our correctional facilities, and has implemented reforms to strengthen the clemency program by providing applicants with an updated website that includes new application forms, and by creating a panel of experts to advise on cases under review,” said a spokesperson for Hochul. “The Governor is committed to continue working with the legislature to reduce recidivism, enhance reentry services for previously incarcerated individuals, and improve the prison system through enhanced recruitment efforts and policy reforms.”
Additionally, the Governor’s Office will review recommendations made by the HALT committee, a controversial task force formed following the illegal prison guard strike earlier this year, to revise the state’s solitary confinement ban. Hochul’s spokesperson says she does not comment on pending clemency applications.
Last week, CANY released another pair of reports on recent site visits of Upstate New York’s Gouverneur Correctional Facility and the Finger Lakes region’s Cayuga Correctional Facility. While violence and racial abuse were lower than average in Cayuga, respondents incarcerated at Gouverneur reported higher than average verbal, physical, sexual, and racial abuse, and many said they did not file grievances due to retaliation concerns.