NY reaches tentative deal to end prison strike by suspending anti-solitary confinement law

A law restricting the use of solitary confinement in New York’s prisons would remain partly suspended for 90 days if corrections officers accept a tentative agreement the state reached with their union to end an ongoing wildcat strike.

There will be no departmental discipline for any of the thousands of corrections officers if they return to work by Saturday, according to a memo the governor released. The agreement also includes provisions to reduce mandated overtime, increase the overtime pay rate and temporarily hire retired corrections officers to assist in transporting incarcerated people.

More than 3,500 National Guard personnel who were deployed to prisons during the strike will remain there, according to the agreement. Gov. Kathy Hochul will determine the “overall support and draw down,” the document says.

Hochul announced the terms of the tentative deal after four days of state-backed mediation between the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents officers.

The union didn’t officially back the strike, which is illegal under state law. NYSCOPBA spokesperson James Miller said the union is urging its members to return to work.

“The decision to return to work is not a collective vote by members of NYSCOPBA,” Miller said. “It will be up to each individual who currently is refusing to work to decide whether to return to work or risk termination, potential fines and possible arrest for violating the court order.”

Hochul said the tentative deal struck a balance.

“We have reached a consent award to address many of the concerns raised by correction officers, put DOCCS back on the path to safe operations, respect the rights of incarcerated individuals and prevent future unsanctioned work stoppages,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.

Corrections officers started walking off their posts on Feb. 17 at two facilities, and picket lines soon spread to more than two-dozen facilities around the state. The strikers say prisons are increasingly understaffed and dangerous for employees. They've pointed to the 2021 HALT law, which they said makes it harder to maintain discipline.

That law set limits on how long incarcerated people are segregated to solitary confinement and requires a hearing before someone is placed in it. Prison officials had already partially suspended HALT, and Hochul has threatened strikers with loss of pay and health insurance.

Hochul spokesperson Maggie Halley said only parts of the HALT law which mandate specific programming for incarcerated people are suspended.

Advocates for incarcerated people say solitary confinement is akin to torture. Progressive lawmakers have said they didn’t have plans to change the law, and many advocates and lawmakers criticized Hochul for temporarily suspending its provisions.

Sen. Julia Salazar, a Democrat from Brooklyn who chairs the chamber’s corrections committee, said she was disappointed and concerned that the language in the draft agreement “creates the fear that New York would take a step backward regarding the harmful use of long-term segregated confinement in our state’s prisons.”

Gothamist spoke with two incarcerated people who said conditions at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility had deteriorated during the strike. They lost access to telephones, hot meals and the commissary for several days when the facility went on lockdown. At least three incarcerated people have died during the strike; their deaths remain under investigation.

The strike is unfolding in the wake of the death of Robert Brooks, who was fatally beaten by staff at the Marcy Correctional Facility near Utica. A special prosecutor charged six employees with murder in connection with Brooks’s death. They’ve pleaded not guilty.

Some Republicans in the state legislature said they were skeptical about the deal.

“It remains to be seen whether this will lead to real, lasting reforms,” Sen. George Borrello of Chautauqua County said of the HALT provisions. “Overall, I still have serious reservations about whether the changes offered in this tentative agreement go far enough to truly restore order and safety to our corrections facilities. It will ultimately be up to the striking corrections officers to decide.”

Update: This story has been updated with additional comments.