A growing wave of criticism is putting pressure on New York lawmakers to revise a controversial prison reform law that correctional officers say has made their jobs more dangerous and fueled a rise in violence behind bars.
The target is the state’s “Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement” law — better known as HALT — which restricts the use of segregated confinement, a practice traditionally known as solitary confinement. Critics say the 2021 law has gone too far and left prison staff without the tools needed to discipline violent inmates.
In a recent column, State Senator Tom O’Mara called on Governor Kathy Hochul and the Democrat-led Legislature to make changes now. He pointed to the spike in inmate assaults, widespread staffing shortages, and long-term mandatory overtime as signs of a system in crisis.
“This Albany Democrat policy in particular has failed,” O’Mara wrote, citing reports that inmate assaults on staff have doubled, and inmate-on-inmate assaults nearly tripled since the law took effect.
After years of warnings, a shift in tone
O’Mara and the state correctional officers union, NYSCOPBA, say they warned about HALT’s impact before the law was passed. Union leaders began rallying for repeal in 2022. But it wasn’t until a historic strike by correctional officers earlier this year — over what they said were unsafe working conditions — that the state began to respond.
In the wake of the strike, the Hochul administration formed a panel of state officials and union representatives to review HALT. That panel recently released 10 recommended changes aimed at restoring the ability to discipline inmates for serious offenses, including attempted escapes, rioting, sexual harassment, gang-related extortion, and acts like throwing feces or urine on staff.
“The goal of the HALT committee is to provide the Legislature with recommendations to enhance safety for both our staff and the incarcerated,” said Daniel Martuscello, Commissioner of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. “We believe we have achieved this goal.”
Union says changes are overdue
NYSCOPBA President Chris Summers said the proposed revisions are a good start — but the Legislature must act quickly.
“Safety is our biggest concern and priority,” Summers said. “We urge the State Legislature in the strongest possible terms to accept our recommendations.”
O’Mara echoed that urgency, warning that further delay would only deepen the crisis in state prisons.
“These recommendations mark a welcome change in thinking,” he said. “But will Albany Democrats make it a top priority? Up to now, they have kept their sense of reality buried beneath their ideology.”
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