On a freezing Tuesday morning, December 9, 2025, Katal and our allies rallied outside the New York City midtown office of Governor Kathy Hochul, calling on the governor to immediately sign the prison and jail oversight bill sitting on her desk. The Oversight bill includes a provision to reform the State Commission on Correction (SCOC), 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 (more in our fact sheet).
Katal members, allies, and elected officials spoke at the rally (see our press release for more detail). Melanie Dominguez, Katal’s organizing director, shared a powerful message for the governor, which we’re sharing here.
Speech by Melanie Dominguez, outside Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, Tuesday 9 December 2025.
Thank you so much for coming out on this cold day to fight for justice. As you all know, we are rallying outside Governor Hochul’s office here in NYC to demand that she sign the jail + prison oversight Omnibus Bill. There is no time to waste when lives are at stake.
Today, December 9th, marks one year since Robert Brooks’ was brutally beaten to death by correctional officers at Marcy prison. Then, in March of this Year, the same thing happened to Messiah Nantwi at Midstate Correctional Facility. These are not unique experiences; they were just able to see the light of day, but this type of violence and killings occur daily within New York State Prisons & jails.
You don’t need to look any further than here in NYC at Rikers Island to understand why Governor Hochul must take immediate action to address the conditions in local jails and prisons. Just this past Sunday, there was another person who died at Rikers Island, Mr. Furse, he was just 32 years old and had his whole life ahead of him. It is infuriating that our community members continue to die within correctional facilities across New York.
Under Mayor Adams, the conditions at the Rikers Island Jail Complex have gone from bad to worse. Since he took office, at least 47 people have died under the custody of the NYC Department of Corrections, and violence has skyrocketed. The Mayor, throughout his term, abandoned the city’s plan to shut Rikers and backtracked on the city’s efforts to close it.
We send our deepest condolences to Mr. Furse’s family and to all the other families who have lost a loved one to this cruel & inhumane criminal legal system.
Rikers Island must be shut down. New York State has an independent government watchdog, known as the State Commission on Correction, with constitutional authority to ensure that correctional facilities are kept in “safe, stable, and humane” conditions. They have the power to shut down correctional facilities that are not in compliance. In 2018, the commission released a report concluding that Rikers must be closed. However, 7 years later, the SCOC has failed to take on further action to close Rikers.
In June, the New York Legislature passed a Jail and Prison Oversight Omnibus Bill, S.8415 (Salazar)/A.8871 (Dilan), which consists of ten prison oversight and accountability bills, including overhauling the government watchdog, known as the State Commission of Correction, to ensure it meets its oversight mandate.
Governor Kathy Hochul has a moral responsibility to address the conditions at Rikers Island, and in local jails & prisons across New York. It is disheartening that she has yet to sign this law. If she wanted to, she could have signed it back in June. Yesterday, Governor Hochul called up the bill, she now has till Friday, December 19th, to sign, veto, or make chapter amendments to the bill.
We are demanding that she immediately sign the bill as it is! Lives are at stake, and there is no time to waste.
Governor Hochul, do your job, sign the Oversight Bill Now!