Assemblyman Phil Palmesano is renewing his call to repeal or amend New York’s HALT Act after four staff members were injured in a recent assault at Elmira Correctional Facility.
According to the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, a nurse and three other staff members were injured while delivering medication to an incarcerated person. Palmesano’s office said the nurse suffered a fractured shoulder.
Palmesano, a Corning Republican whose district includes Schuyler and Yates counties and parts of Chemung, Seneca and Steuben counties, said the assault reflects broader safety concerns inside state correctional facilities.
“The dangerous assaults happening on staff are disgusting; our correctional and civilian staff put their safety at risk every day they step inside our correctional facilities,” Palmesano said.
Palmesano pointed to figures he attributed to the first three years of HALT, saying inmate-on-inmate assaults rose 169%, assaults on staff rose 76% and contraband entering prisons rose 32%.
The HALT Act limits the use of segregated confinement in New York prisons and jails. Palmesano said the law has restricted correction officers’ ability to separate the most dangerous and violent inmates.
He co-sponsors legislation to repeal the HALT Act, A.3217, and another bill, A.10430, that would amend the law. His office said the amendment legislation mirrors proposals from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations, the Division of Criminal Justice Services, NYSCOPBA, the Civil Service Employees Association, Council 82 and the Public Employees Federation.
Palmesano said the governor and Legislature should act to address the issue, adding that if repeal does not advance, the law should at least be changed to improve safety for staff and incarcerated people.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.