FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Contact: Yonah Zeitz, yonah@katalcenter.org • 347-201-2769
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Final State Budget Starts Reform of the Jail & Prison Watchdog Agency
Community Groups & Advocates Urge Legislative Leaders to Act Swiftly on Additional Reforms to Overhaul the SCOC (S.856/A.2315)
Albany, NY: Both houses of the New York State Legislature acted on the 2025-26 State Budget yesterday, a $254 billion spending plan that includes funding and strengthens oversight provisions for a key state watchdog agency – the State Commission of Correction (SCOC). The Commission 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.” However, for more than 20 years, the SCOC has consistently failed to meet its responsibility and this past year has hit a tipping point. With the recent killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in state prisons and five deaths at Rikers this year, overhauling the SCOC is long overdue. This is only a first step in the needed reforms, and demands remain that S.856/A.2315 be enacted prior to the June 13, 2025, scheduled end of the legislative session.
The budget allocates a total of $7.1 million to the SCOC, an increase of $3 million from last year’s budget. Most of the reforms enacted in the budget are based on legislation drafted, developed, and championed by Assemblymember Emily Gallagher and sponsored by Senator Julia Salazar. A full list of SCOC reforms included in the budget can be found below.
Over the last two years, community groups and elected officials have organized to overhaul the SCOC, which has made these important changes possible. Right now, nearly 50 legislators are supporting S.856/A2315 and calling for more to be done to ensure that the SCOC truly fulfills its constitutional mandate.
This Gallagher/Salazar bill will further strengthen the SCOC by expanding the number of SCOC commissioners from three to nine and distributing appointments among the Governor, the Senate, the Assembly, and the independent nonprofit, the Correctional Association of New York. The appointment requirements would guarantee a diversity of backgrounds, including in public health, behavioral healthcare, prisoner’s rights litigation, and personal experiences of incarceration. See this fact sheet for more information.
Support for this legislation is growing, with 90 community, legal, advocacy, and faith-based groups. With five weeks left in the session, we urge the legislature to act swiftly. The Senate should advance this bill out of the Finance Committee and the Assembly must advance this critical legislation out of the Corrections Committee.
Quotes from elected officials, community groups, and directly impacted people:
Senator Julia Salazar, Prime Bill Sponsor, said: “New York prisons have been violent and abusive for decades, yet to this day there is little to no oversight or accountability. When correction officers murdered Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, lawmakers and the governor promised to take serious action. That action includes expanding and diversifying the State Commission of Correction so that it has the resources and funding needed to fulfill its duty of overseeing our state prisons. We must act now to pass SCOC expansion and begin to put an end to this violence.”
Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Prime Bill Sponsor, said: “Robert Brooks was brutally murdered at Marcy Prison five months ago, but we have yet to see meaningful reforms that can prevent this type of tragedy from happening again. Our state jails and prisons operate with cultures of violence and impunity that make everyone—incarcerated people, corrections officers, and staff alike—less safe. I applaud the increased funding for the SCOC in this year’s budget, but this alone will not solve the cultural problem or lead to meaningful oversight. We must invest in and expand the SCOC so it can become the oversight body it was initially intended to be. We must pass my bill this session to transform the SCOC and ensure that no one else enters state custody healthy and leaves in a body bag.”
Kevin Valentine, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “The conditions in New York State prisons and jails are life-threatening. As someone who has been through the system, I can tell you that there is no form of rehabilitation for incarcerated individuals. People are subjected to arbitrary punishment that is in direct violation of their constitutional rights. We’ve witnessed the killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Natwi at the hands of Correctional Offices in state prisons. In NYC, under Mayor Adams, roughly 38th people have died in city jails. We cannot continue this way it is simply cruel and inhumane. The State Commission on Correction needs to be doing a lot more in addressing and reforming these conditions. Adding more funding to the State Commission of Correction is a step forward but there needs to be an overhaul of this commission. The legislature needs to now pass the SCOC bill.”
Rev. Jim Ketcham, Chair of the New York State Council of Churches Criminal Justice Working Group, said: “The NYS Council of Churches is glad to see the budget for the SCOC greatly increased and the mandatory annual visits by the SCOC to every state prison, local or county jail or juvenile detention center in the public safety part of the budget passed today. This kind of oversight has been missing and is essential to transparency and accountability.
We continue to urge the passage of S.856 (Salazar) / A.2315 (Gallagher) which would make welcome changes to the size and make-up of the SCOC. The Commission has long relied primarily on members who come from law enforcement or correctional officer backgrounds. Adding members who are formerly incarcerated, or members of the families of formerly incarcerated persons as well as persons trained in social work or psychology will certainly improve the work of the commission and the public’s confidence in the commission.”
Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the A.J. Must Foundation for Peace and Justice, said: “The A.J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice thanks Governor Hochul and legislative leaders for increasing funding and oversight of New York State’s carceral systems. As longtime financial supporters of grassroots prison reform organizations, we know firsthand that conditions remain dire—marked by preventable deaths, neglect, and lack of accountability. We urge swift passage of S.856/A.2315 to overhaul the State Commission of Correction and ensure real, independent oversight.”
Ziyadah Amatulmatin, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “New York State prisons are plagued with violence and corruption. My brother died while incarcerated because of the lack of access to medical care and excessive corporal punishment. My son is also experiencing the same horrific conditions that everyone behind bars is enduring and I will not stop fighting to ensure he is safe. My family and I thank Governor Hochul for acknowledging that the State Commission on Correction needs to be revamped and increasing their funding to $7.1 million. We have come such a long way. However, we can’t stop and won’t stop until the job is complete. The legislature must urgently pass bill (S. 856)-Salazar / (A.2315)-Gallagher to ensure that the commission meets their mandate of keeping incarcerated people safe and uses their power to shut down correctional facilities deemed to be violating the rights of incarcerated people. It is time to eliminate discrimination, violence, and corruption within the Department of Corrections. Our communities and family deserve healing from the trauma this system has brought upon us.”
Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY, said: “Common Cause/NY applauds the New York State Senate and Assembly for recognizing the urgent need to strengthen oversight of our corrections system and invest in institutions that are more transparent and responsive to the public. These budget changes are a critical step toward real accountability — but Albany lawmakers still have work to do. We look forward to working with them to finish the job by passing the SCOC reform bill before the end of this session.”
Brittan Hardgers, Director of Advocacy & Community Engagement of the New Pride Agenda, said: “The increased budget and strengthened oversight requirements for the State Commission of Correction are critical steps forward in holding our jails and prisons accountable. We commend Governor Hochul and legislative leaders for prioritizing safety and transparency. However, our work is far from over. To truly protect incarcerated individuals and ensure dignity and human rights within our correctional facilities, we urge the immediate passage of S.856 (Salazar) and A.2315 (Gallagher). Let’s finish the job and make New York a leader in correctional justice reform.”
Lah Franklin, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “As someone who works in the medical space, I have seen how these correctional facilities fail to keep incarcerated people safe. The lack of medical access at these facilities is inhumane and in violation of people’s constitutional rights. I’ve seen people come out of Rikers severely sick because of the neglect. Governor Hochul has heard the calls from community members and has increased funding for the State Commission of Correction to fulfill their mandate of keeping correctional facilities safe, stable, and humane. This means ensuring that people have access to medical care. The legislature needs to use this moment to strengthen and diversify the State Commission on Correction by swiftly passing the SCOC bill. It’s time to pass the bill!
Michael McQuillan, Member of the Social Justice Committee at the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, said: “State leaders by approving an SCOC budget rise commit to having humane treatment a normative priority in New York’s jails and prisons. No more torture, blood and death! Hiring career professionals in behavioral science, mental health and related fields will activate an unconscionably dormant Commission that needs further measures mandating field inspections, with systemic orientation and in-service trainings — with legitimate chances for faith, legal and advocacy groups plus the public at large to testify at SCOC sessions. These last days in Albany have large stakes for the out of sight, out of mind insiders. We laud leaders’ actions thus far but demand passage and enactment as well.”
King Downing, director of the Healing Justice program NY/NJ of the American Friends Service Committee, said: “There is a saying that ‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant’. Thank you to the governor and legislative leaders for increasing the SCOC budget and oversight. But the light must also reach the composition and appointment process included in the SCOC bill-it must be passed now.”
Amelia Scdoris, Community Organizer at Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC, said: “We appreciate the agreed-upon state budget decision to strengthen jail and prison oversight by increasing funding to the State Commission of Correction. These changes are a necessary response to the deep, ongoing harm faced by incarcerated people, especially Black, brown, and immigrant New Yorkers. We’re especially grateful to Senator Salazar and Assemblymember Gallagher for their leadership in advancing meaningful oversight reforms. We hope to continue to create true accountability and independent oversight with the passage of S.856/A.2315 this session.”
Emily NaPier Singletary, Co-Executive Director of Unchained, said: “The murders of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi laid bare the reality that our incarcerated and formerly incarcerated members have faced for decades: that physical abuse perpetrated by those charged with maintaining safety and security in our prisons is rampant, as are the attempts to cover up that abuse. The increased funding and expanded mandates for the State Commission of Correction included in the state budget are the bare minimum for addressing systemic abuse and lack of accountability in the state’s prisons and jails. We now call on the legislature to pass S856/A2315 to expand and diversify the SCOC Commissioners so that this independent oversight body can meet its obligations to protect incarcerated people across New York State.”
Donna Hylton, founder and president of A Little Piece of Light, said: “Like many of our members at A Little Piece of Light, I’ve been incarcerated at Rikers and in State prison. I’ve experienced first hand the awful conditions, the violence, the disregard for human life. But these experiences weren’t unique. Everyone incarcerated across the state faces horrific conditions. And all too often, certain populations, like women, LGBTQ people, gender variant people and young people, are targeted for particularly heinous violence and abuse. That is why we must overhaul the State Commission of Correction to ensure greater accountability and oversight. Now that the commissions budget has been increased, A Little Piece of Light calls on the State Legislature to swiftly pass S.856/A.2315. There is simply no time to waste.”
Joshua Varner, Center for Employment Opportunities, said: “The wins that the State Commission on Corrections (SCOC) has received in this budget are monumental in keeping incarcerated individuals safe. Increased funding and improving their oversight provisions are key to this effort since investing in criminal justice systems such as the SCOC is a long-term investment in safer communities, rebuilding families, and reducing recidivism, which are pillars of individuals’ reentry. Despite these wins, we still call on the legislature to pass S.856 (Salazar) / A.2315 (Gallagher) to continue improving the SCOC.”
Ramik Williams, Co-Executive Director of Kings Against Violence Initiative, said: “State correctional facilities have long contributed to recidivism in New York State. KAVI proudly partners with the Katal Center and supportive elected officials to overhaul the State Commission on Corrections. This legislation marks a significant stride toward overseeing the state’s correctional facilities. Historically, oversight of these facilities has been inconsistent. This new legislation aims to bridge the governance gap, fostering a more humane environment and better treatment for incarcerated people.”
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 across the state, have demanded an overhaul to the State Commission of Correction (SCOC). We’re glad to see the governor and legislative leaders take a first step by increasing the funding and oversight requirements.
Now the state legislature must finish the job and increase oversight and accountability by passing (S. 856)-Salazar / (A.2315)-Gallagher.
Right now, the conditions in New York’s jails and prisons are horrific and life-threatening for incarcerated people. The SCOC has consistently failed to meet its constitutional mandate to ensure that correctional facilities across the state, from Buffalo New York City and Long Island and everywhere in between – are ‘safe and humane.’ The heinous killing of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in state prisons and the five deaths at Rikers this year is emblematic of the systemic issues of violence, abuse, torture, and death occurring under the SCOC’s watch.
We urge the Legislature to build on the reforms included in the budget by quickly passing and delivering this bill to the governor’s desk. Lives are at stake and the clock is running out.”
SCOC Reform Provisions Included in the State Budget
- Mandatory annual inspections of every state correctional facility, local jail, and Office of Children and Family-operated juvenile detention center.
- Amendments to filling chair vacancies on the Medical Review Board (Board) and the Complaint and Grievance Council (Council)
- More accessible grievance procedures, requiring the SCOC to maintain a website to accept written complaints.
- Minimal annual reports to the SCOC from the Council with recommendations that may improve care, safety and staffing.
- Mandatory access by the SCOC of substance use disorder treatment and transition records, in addition to the already mandatory access to medical records.
- Authority for the SCOC to conduct private interviews of prison employees, accompanied by counsel or union representative; and private interviews of incarcerated individuals upon the individual’s consent and with counsel present if desired.
- Minimal annual reports from the Board to the SCOC with recommendations and reports about the delivery of medical care.
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