Sheriff Brian Schenck is calling for urgent changes to the HALT Act, arguing that the law has led to a surge in violence within New York’s correctional facilities, including the Cayuga County Jail. Schenck’s statement comes as the controversial law faces heightened scrutiny amid statewide prison worker strikes protesting unsafe conditions.
Enacted in 2022, the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Confinement (HALT) Act was designed to limit the use of solitary confinement in state and local correctional facilities. However, Schenck says the law has stripped jails of an essential tool for maintaining order, leading to a dramatic increase in violence among inmates and against staff.
“The HALT Act has removed the capacity to confine individuals within our jails and correctional facilities for durations that would ensure the safety of staff and other inmates, as well as serve as a deterrent for intentional and dangerous behavior,” Schenck said.
According to data from the Cayuga County Jail, use-of-force incidents—cases in which staff had to physically intervene to stop an assault—skyrocketed after HALT’s implementation. In 2020, the jail reported just seven such incidents, a number that remained steady at eight in 2021. However, after HALT took effect in 2022, that number jumped to 32, and by 2023, it climbed to 54. Although incidents dropped to 24 in 2024 due to a lower inmate population, Schenck noted that the per-inmate rate of violent incidents remains alarmingly high compared to pre-HALT years.
Schenck warned that without the ability to impose meaningful consequences for violent behavior, discipline breaks down, leading to chaos. “In the absence of consequences, there can be no discipline; without discipline, chaos ensues,” he said. “Our criminal justice system cannot function effectively without established repercussions for individual actions.”
Sheriff Schenck is urging Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature to either repeal or significantly amend the HALT Act, citing overwhelming evidence that it has made jails and prisons more dangerous for both staff and inmates.
“Our state is data-driven when addressing public safety issues, and the data surrounding HALT could not be any clearer,” Schenck said. “The time to fix this issue is now.”
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