FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 6, 2025
Contact: Yonah Zeitz, yonah@katalcenter.org • 347-201-2769
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Katal Center and Elected Officials Applaud the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus for Announcing the Robert Brooks Prison Reform Package, Call for Immediate Passage
Package Includes Critical Oversight and Accountability Bill to Expand and Diversify the State Commission of Correction A.2315 (Gallagher)
Albany, NY – Today, the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus announced a package of 21 priority bills aimed at overhauling the state’s prison systems. This package comes six months after the killing of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility and three months after the killing of Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State Correctional Facility.
One of the bills included in the package, S856 (Salazar) /A2315 (Gallagher), would overhaul the state’s jail and prison watchdog agency – the State Commission of Correction (SCOC). The SCOC is an independent body mandated with the constitutional authority to ensure that correctional facilities across New York – all local jails and state prisons – are “safe, stable and humane,” but for more than 20 years, the SCOC has consistently failed to meet its responsibility.
Since the murder of Robert Brooks in December, the commission has “convened before the public for a combined total of less than 51 minutes” and has failed to take any meaningful action related to the scandal. That’s why community groups are working on legislation to reform the SCOC’s membership and appointment process. Support for S.856-(Salazar) / A.2315-(Gallagher) is growing; over 100 community, advocacy, legal, and faith-based organizations have signed on in support, the father of Robert Brooks has called for the passage of the bill, and the Senate has already passed it. In the Assembly, the measure has nearly 50 co-sponsors, and it is currently in the Correction Committee, chaired by Assm. Erik Dilan, who spoke positively about this reform at today’s press conference. With the Caucus now fully behind this bill, community groups are calling for the bill to pass through the Correction Committee, and for the full Assembly to pass the bill so it can be sent to Gov. Hochul for signature.
Quotes from elected officials and the Katal Center:
Senator Julia Salazar, Chair of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime, and Correction & Prime Bill Sponsor, said: “What message are we sending if we fail to take any substantial legislative action after government employees murdered not one, but two individuals within the span of just a few months? When correction officers killed both Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, it shed light on the decades of systemic abuse and violence taking place in our state prisons. I’m proud to stand with the Caucus on our Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice and Reform package. This is a comprehensive package that if passed, would increase accountability and oversight of our prisons, expand pathways toward release, and end the human rights violations taking place in our facilities. As we have one week left in this year’s legislative session, I urge my colleagues to remember the promises we made to the loved ones of Mr. Brooks and Mr. Nantwi. We must act quickly.”
Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Prime Bill Sponsor, said: “The inclusion of the SCOC bill in the Robert Brooks package underscores the essential role that oversight must play in addressing the ongoing crisis in New York’s prison and jails. We have just over one week until the legislative session ends for the year. If we are serious about honoring the legacy of Robert Brooks, Messiah Nantwi, and the many others who died or were killed in New York’s carceral facilities this year alone, we must pass this bill in the coming days. I thank the Caucus members and leadership for including this bill in the package and continuing to fight for meaningful justice for incarcerated people.”
Lah Franklin, Member of the Katal Center, said: “Jails and prisons across New York are in an ongoing state of crisis that needs to end. Even when I was incarcerated, the conditions were bad, but since it has gotten progressively worse, people are dying in alarming numbers. In NYC, at least 38th people have died in city jails since Mayor Adams took office. As a result, the federal courts have intervened and appointed an independent ‘remediation manager’ to take Rikers out of the city’s control. The State Commission of Correction could have intervened long ago to prevent the horrible conditions at Rikers that led to this point. That is why it is time for the legislature to advance legislation, S856 (Salazar) /A2315 (Gallagher), to overhaul & expand the commission. I am grateful that the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus has included this legislation as part of its legislative package to address conditions in state prisons following the murder of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi. The Assembly must advance the bill now!”
Yonah Zeitz, Advocacy Director of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice: “Katal members, many of whom are formerly incarcerated or have loved ones currently incarcerated in jails and prisons from Buffalo to New York City, demand an overhaul of the watchdog agency responsible for jails and prisons. We’re grateful to see the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus listen to the demands of directly impacted communities and release this comprehensive reform package in response to the heinous killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in state prisons.
For decades, the State Commission of Correction (SCOC) has utterly failed to meet its constitutional mandate of ensuring that all correctional facilities in New York are ‘safe and humane.’ Instead of working to protect incarcerated people, they’ve fixated on variances and building construction. It’s shameful and underscores the need for an overhaul. We urge the Assembly to take action now and deliver this bill, S856 (Salazar) / A2315 (Gallagher), to the governor’s desk. There is simply no time to waste.”