**MEDIA ADVISORY**
May 26, 2026
Contact: Yonah Zeitz: 347-201-2768 yonah@katalcenter.org
Follow online: @katalcenter | #ShutRikers | shutrikers.org
Wednesday, May 27th: Formerly Incarcerated People & Families Head to the State Commission of Correction, New York’s Jail and Prison Oversight Agency, In Response to the Canceling of the May Monthly Meeting
As of Today, Gov. Hochul Has Yet to Appoint New Commissioners – Including a Formerly Incarcerated Person – to the Failing Agency, Which Currently Does Not Have a Quorum to Function
New York, NY – On Wednesday, May 27th, at 11 am, the State Commission of Correction (SCOC), New York’s jail and prison watchdog agency, was scheduled to hold their May monthly meeting. At 9 am this morning, the meeting was listed on their website, but as of 11:30 am, it has been removed and appears to be canceled. Tomorrow at 11 am, formerly incarcerated people will go to the SCOC, located in the Alfred E Smith building, and mark another day without adequate jail and prison oversight and accountability. They will then head to the Capitol building to meet with Gov. Hochul and lawmakers to press for action to fill the SCOC vacancies.
On Saturday, May 9th, key reforms to the SCOC, which were part of last year’s Prison Oversight Omnibus Bill, took effect – expanding the number of commissioners from three to five and requiring a diversity of backgrounds, including at least one commissioner who must be formerly incarcerated. The full list of reforms to the SCOC can be found here. Right now, there are two sitting Commissions: Chair Canty and Commissioner Gaynes. There are currently three vacancies (one full-time position and two new part-time positions), and the Commission no longer has a quorum to function.
The SCOC is mandated with the constitutional authority to ensure that correctional facilities across New York – all local jails and state prisons – are “safe, stable, and humane.” The SCOC’s wide-ranging authority includes the power to shut down any correctional facilities (including Rikers) for consistently violating the rights of incarcerated people. The SCOC has consistently failed to meet its responsibility, and incarcerated people across New York have suffered the consequences. The brutal murders of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi and the nearly 60 deaths in state prisons from January to April of this year highlight the inadequacy of this oversight agency in state prisons. Local jails are no better, and the deadly conditions at Rikers, where two people died in less than 24 hours last week, underscore the gross failure of this agency.
As New York’s jails and prisons remain embattled with preventable deaths, violence, and overuse of isolation, it’s clear that greater oversight, not less, is needed to improve conditions and save lives. It is vital that Governor Hochul swiftly appoints and the State Senate confirms reform-oriented individuals, including a formerly incarcerated person, to this Commission before the end of the legislative session on June 4th.
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