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At Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum security women's prison, the August Rebellion
led to greater protection of the rights of incarcerated people in the United States. Following the
prison riot the women filed and won the class-action lawsuit Powell v. Ward. The lawsuit ended in
a legally binding pledge by prison guards to conduct disciplinary proceedings fairly and to only
send truly mentally ill prisoners to psychiatric hospitals.[35]
Facilities and communication policies
Prisons are required to have law libraries, and most prisons have a general library, with a
professional librarian. Incarcerated people usually have a limited amount of time to be outdoors
(in "the yard"). Incarcerated people have access to telephones, which requires recording and
monitoring of calls, and some email access. Calls and emails can only be made out to pre-approved
numbers and addresses. A prisoner lawsuit about 2010 dramatically reduced the very high charges
per minute by the telephone service provider. New York has instituted a package policy, effective
August 15, 2022, that allows incarcerated people to receive only two personally boxed packages per
year from friends or family. All other packages— e.g., clothes, packaged foods, and other allowable
items— must be purchased and shipped directly from vendors (such as Amazon).[36] Inmates are
allowed three packages per month, based on the date they arrive at the facility (i.e., a package
ordered January 31 that arrives in February will count towards February's package log). The policy
prohibits visitors from bringing gifts of any kind to the prison, whereas visitors were allowed to
bring gifts and drop them off at the package room in the past.[36]
Prisons generally have on their staff a chaplain, and a rabbi and imam, who usually visit several
different prisons on different days of the week. At some medium-security prisons, facilities for
conjugal visits are available for carefully selected inmates, including same-sex married couples.
New York State is one of only four states with conjugal visits in 2014. They typically take place in
trailers within the prison grounds, and some spouses bring children along, so sex offenders are not
eligible for conjugal visits. No women's prison in New York has conjugal visits.
Work assignments
Each prisoner is assigned a staff member ("counselor") who assists inmates in navigating the
complicated institutional and external program rules. In addition to checking each inmate's
telephone and email lists, the advisor assigns each inmate a job, which is typically paid at well
under 50¢. Typically there are more inmate workers than work to do, but policy is that every
inmate in "population"—the main class of inmates, without special conditions—must have a job.
Incarcerated people generally either work running or maintaining the facility, or work for "prison
industries." Facility jobs pay 10-26¢ per hour (from 60¢ to $1.56 per day), as of data from 2017.[37]
Death row
Prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, the male death row was at the Clinton Correctional
Facility and the female death row was at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.[38] The execution
chamber was located at the Green Haven Correctional Facility.[39] Previously, inmates had been
executed at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility.[40]
Capital punishment was banned following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling declaring existing
capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (1972), but was reinstated in
New York in 1995 when Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law, which provided for
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execution by lethal injection. On June 24, 2004, in the case People v. LaValle, the New York Court
of Appeals struck down the statute as unconstitutional under the New York Constitution (at the
time, only two individuals were under a sentence of death). Although seven individuals were
sentenced to death, no one was executed, and the Court of Appeals later commuted the sentence of
the final individual under a sentence of death in New York on October 23, 2007, in the case People
v. John Taylor. In July 2008, Governor David Paterson issued an executive order requiring the
disestablishment of death row and the closure of the state's execution chamber at Green Haven
Correctional Facility.[41]
COVID-19 response
DOCCS reports that 45 incarcerated individuals have died of COVID-19, as well as 18 DOCCS staff
members and 9 people on parole (a more difficult number for the department to track).[42] The
department reported 11,270 positive cases among incarcerated people and over 14,000 cases
among staff as of October, 2022, but due to lack of testing availability, especially early in the
pandemic, these are underestimates of the true number of cases.[42]
Visiting at New York State prisons was completely suspended during the first months of the
COVID-19 pandemic, from March to August, 2020.[43] After reopening in August, DOCCS imposed
more restrictions on family and others visiting the prisons, including two-hour maximum visits, a
ban on physical touch, and required pre-registration.[43] As COVID-19 cases surged in fall 2021,
DOCCS imposed a requirement that visitors show proof of vaccination or a negative test result.[44]
DOCCS stated that they would provide test kits at facilities for visitors who arrived without proof of
vaccination or a negative test result within the prior 48 hours.[44]
As of December 2021, approximately 70% of DOCCS staff reported that they had been vaccinated
against COVID-19, and 52% of incarcerated individuals have been partially or fully vaccinated.[44]
Correction Officers and Parole Officers
In labor negotiations, the officers are represented by the New York State Correctional Officers and
Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA).[45] The union has been vocal in its opposition to
prison closures. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit (PS&T)- Represent Parole
officers.
Since 1861, 28 New York state correction officers have died as a result of violence in the line of duty
or a duty-related illness (e.g., tuberculosis).[46] The last death by violence was in 1981.[46] Eight
others have died by accidents, heart attack or other cause while working.[46] In the uprising at
Attica in 1971, forty-three people were killed; eleven were state workers (eight guards and three
civilian workers) and thirty-two incarcerated men.[47] The majority of the deaths were caused by
gunfire from law enforcement: ten state workers and twenty-nine incarcerated men were fatally
shot.[48]
Mission and training
The current stated mission of NYSDOCCS is: "to provide for public protection by administering a
network of correctional facilities that:
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Retain inmates in safe custody until released by law;
Offer inmates an opportunity to improve their employment potential
and their ability to function in a non-criminal fashion;
Offer staff a variety of opportunities for career enrichment and
advancement; and,
Offer stable and humane "community" environments in which all
participants, staff and inmates, can perform their required tasks with
a sense of satisfaction."
To be eligible to work as a corrections officer in New York State,
individuals must be citizens of the United States, at least 21 years old and
have earned a high school diploma or equivalent.[49] Recruits complete 12 months of training,
including eight or more weeks of formal training. Recruits are paid to attend a paramilitary
training program at the DOCCS Training Academy, which includes taking courses in emergency
response procedures, interpersonal communications, firearms, unarmed defensive tactics, and
legal rights and responsibilities.[49] They also undergo physical training to develop fitness, strength
and stamina. There are physical qualification standards for becoming a corrections officer; the
trainees must be able to perform seven sequential job-related tasks in two minutes and fifteen
seconds or less. Failure in any of the tasks results in the recruit failing to meet the agency
qualification standards and, accordingly, being dismissed from the academy.[50]
Some correctional officers work in specialized units, including: Correctional Emergency Response
Team (CERT); Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU); Hostage Rescue Team (HRT); Fire Brigade (NYS
Facility Firefighter); Office of Special Investigations (OSI); Employee Investigation Unit (EIU);
and D.O.C.C.S. K-9 Unit.
Power and legal authority
New York State Correction Officers have peace officer status statewide under Criminal Procedure
Law § 2.10 ([Link] this authorizes them:
The power to make warrantless arrests pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 140.25[51]
The power to use physical force and deadly physical force in making an arrest or preventing an
escape pursuant to Penal Law § 35.30[52]
The power to carry out warrantless searches whenever such searches are constitutionally
permissible and acting pursuant to their duties, in accordance with Criminal Procedure Law §
2.20[53]
The power to possess and take custody of firearms not owned by the peace officer, for the
purpose of disposing, guarding, or any other lawful purpose, consistent with his or her duties
as a peace officer, pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 2.20[53]
The power to issue certain summonses and appearance tickets when acting pursuant to their
duties, in accordance with Criminal Procedure Law § 2.20[53]
New York State Correction Officers are also authorized by the state to carry firearms unrestricted
off-duty and are thus covered under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act which allows
for permit-less off-duty carry across the nation.
From highest to lowest title, the command structure for correction officers and their civilian
administrators is as follows:
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Title Insignia
Commissioner
Deputy Commissioner
Superintendent
Deputy Superintendent for Security/Colonel
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Correction Officer
Correction Officer - Trainee
Parole Officers
New York State Division of Parole are law enforcement officers within the department who aid,
assist and supervise offenders released from correctional facilities to serve a period of post-release
supervision. Parole Officers are responsible for providing public safety and community protection,
while working with community-based organizations to deliver needed services and supervision to
releasees. Parole Officers perform both social work and law enforcement functions, and work to
develop a supervision plan for each releasee; they also assess and evaluate the adequacy of each
releasee's community adjustment and intervene when the releasee's behavior threatens that
adjustment. The parole officer, in consultation with his or her supervisor, determines when and
under what circumstances delinquency action is warranted. The parole officer works to ensure that
individuals released from prison by order of the Board of Parole and by statute live and remain at
liberty in the community without violating the law. When a parolee or conditional releasee violates
their conditions of release, the parole officer may take the subject into custody with or without a
warrant, and will typically return them to the nearest correctional facility. Parole Officers are
usually assigned to area field offices, which are located in many of the major cities throughout New
York State. Parole Officers have peace officer status statewide pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law
§ 2.10 ([Link]
Commissioners
Daniel F. Martuscello III - June 2023 to May 2024 (Acting), May 2024 to present
Anthony J. Annucci - 2013 to 2023 (Acting)[54]
Brian Fischer - 2007 to 2013
Glenn S. Goord - 1996 to 2006
Philip Coombe Jr. - 1994 to 1996
Thomas A Coughlin - 1979 to 1994
John A. Lyons - 1939, reappointed 1944[55]
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