State Legislature passes prison reforms, heads to Hochul’s desk
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Queens State Senator Julia Salazar pushed through a package of prison reforms that introduced new transparency requirements for state prisons in the wake of two high-profile deaths in state correctional facilities. Photo courtesy of NYS Senate Media Services
By Noah Powelson
The New York State Legislature passed a package of prison reforms on the last day of the legislative session, sending the bills to the governor’s desk. However, the governor has not indicated if she plans to support the package or not.
The package, dubbed the Prison Reform Omnibus Bill, would institute a number of new transparency, accountability and regulatory guidelines for reporting the deaths of incarcerated persons. The bill would require 24/7 video surveillance of common areas in correctional facilities, timely notifying of the death of inmates to their families as well as publishing notices of inmates’ deaths to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision within 24 hours.
The bills were introduced in direct response to the high-profile deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, who were both killed inside state correctional facilities in the last year.
The legislation introduces several new requirements for investigating the details of a prisoner’s death, and expands the ability of several government agencies' to review and investigate correctional facilities.
Any footage related to the death of an incarcerated prisoner is required to be disclosed to the attorney general’s office within 72 hours. Additionally, autopsy reports would be required to include photographs, x-rays and other relevant documentation reviewed by the medical examiner.
The bill would also expand the oversight agency, the State Commission of Correction, from three members to nine members and would include formerly incarcerated individuals, public health professionals and civil rights advocates. The SCOC would also be required to investigate the causes of death of inmates in custody that occurred in the past ten years, and make recommendations for future reforms.
The Correctional Association of NY Oversight Authority would also receive expanded authority to conduct independent, unsupervised inspections and speak privately with incarcerated individuals and staff.
“CANY has done critical work to monitor conditions and provide accountability in our correctional system,” Queens Assemblymember David Weprin said. “I highly valued CANY's reports on the conditions and wellbeing of our incarcerated population. This bill will ensure that CANY has greater access to facilities and the data they need to improve our correctional system.”
DOCCS itself would also be required to report data quarterly to the legislature and governor on complaints, investigations, staffing and enforcement actions handled by the Office of Special Investigation. Under the bill, CANY would be able to access this data.
“Accountability and safety inside our correctional system are not negotiable,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “This package is a direct response to the devastating loss of life and the systemic failures we’ve witnessed across DOCCS facilities.”
The reform package was introduced by Queens and Brooklyn State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Erik Dilan. It was passed just before 9 p.m. on Thursday night.
Several Queens elected officials voiced their support of the reforms.
“There should be no reason why someone enters prison and never makes it out alive,” Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz said. “If we’re serious about building a correctional system that protects human rights, then we have to make sure harm can’t be hidden—and that those who’ve been harmed have a real path to justice.”
The high-profile deaths of Brooks and Nantwi in state prisons sparked a wave of outrage from elected officials and criminal justice reform advocates.
“The deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi should not have happened, full stop,” Dilan said in a statement. “But this bill is a first step into ensuring their deaths lead to a series of changes within the corrections system to improve public trust and safety.”
In February of this year, a group of 14 officers were charged in the brutal beating and murder of 43-year-old Brooks, which was captured on body-worn camera footage that the Attorney General’s office later released. The killing took place at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on Dec. 9, 2024.
On March 1, just a few months after Brooks’ death, 22-year-old Nantwi was beaten to death at the Mid-State Correctional Facility – directly down the road from Marcy Correctional Facility – by correctional officers.
Following the deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in state prisons, lawmakers introduced and passed a series of prison reforms that require expanded oversight and video surveillance of correctional facilities. Screenshot via New York State Attorney General office via AP
A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul’s office said the governor will review the bill but did not comment on if she was in support of it.
Hochul called Brooks murder “horrific” and directed DOCCS to fire all the employees involved in Nantwi's death.
“Our state correctional facilities must be safe for Correction Officers, civilian staff, the incarcerated population and surrounding communities,” she said following Nantwi’s killing. “We have already begun to implement multiple new policies, including expanding the use of body-worn cameras and bringing in experts for a system-wide culture study.”
Legislators said the deaths of Brooks and Nantwi are just a few noticeable incidents of years of abuse prisoners face from prison guards with little to no oversight.
“With the Senate passage of the Prison Reform Omnibus Bill, I’m thinking of Robert Brooks, Messiah Nantwi, and their loved ones,” Salazar said. “For decades, New York’s state prisons have been plagued by a systemic pattern of racism, staff violence towards incarcerated individuals, and human rights abuses, with little to no accountability or oversight.”
“There is more work to do, including an expansion of pathways for release, but this is progress, it will make a difference, and I’m proud to stand behind it,” she added
