The 79-page agreement ends a lawsuit filed by New York’s ACLU chapter, which accused one of the largest prison systems in the country of using inhumane and torturous methods in dealing with prisoners.
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NY prison officials agreed Wednesday to overhaul their use of solitary confinement, offering a broad slate of reforms aimed at reducing the number of inmates sent to “the box”, limiting the amount of time they can spend there and providing counseling to help long-term solitary inmates adjust to life on the outside. “We exposed the shocking reality, that every day thousands of incarcerated New Yorkers have been forced to serve their time under a brutal and debilitating regime of extreme isolation”.
About 4,000 of the state’s roughly 60,000 prisoners are serving their time in 23-hour confinement for violating rules.
The settlement announced today is multi-pronged-in addition to removing more than 1,100 inmates from solitary for a range of circumstances (inmates with the longest solitary sentences will benefit, as well as those struggling with drug addiction or in need of therapy), DOCCS will narrow the scope of infractions punishable with solitary confinement. This goal is notable in part because it is not limited to any particular kind of inmate, meaning it will apply to everyone, not just, for instance, juveniles or the mentally ill. The corrections department will also begin a pilot program to provide offline tablet computers to inmates, but there are 30 for the entire state system.
Solitary confinement for a disciplinary violation will max out at 90 days, with the exception of assault and escape accusations. Instead, inmates will receive fruit, cheeses, and cold cuts, according to the settlement.
Numerous reforms outlined in the settlement are substantively similar to changes that have been made in other states, according to Sara Sullivan of the Vera Institute of Justice. These changes “are doable”, Sullivan says, “and they will make for a safer facility for both staff and inmates”.
The deal is the result of almost four years of negotiations spurred by a federal lawsuit claiming the state’s solitary-confinement program is unconstitutional – a claim the state does not admit to in the settlement.
The New York settlement also includes a change in diet, requiring the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision “to replace the Loaf within three months… with a nutritious, calorie-sufficient, and palatable alternative meal composed of regular food items that can be safely delivered to and eaten by inmates”. “Sometimes you’ll see jurisdictions where a lot of the focus and movement has been on the long-term administrative segregation guys”.
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In addition, it will significantly reduce the types of violations that land inmates in isolation and will keep solitary punishment under three months for all but a handful of violations.
