Advocates Urge Nassau Legislature to Restore Jail Oversight Committee

A coalition of inmate advocates and civil rights groups today urged the Nassau County Legislature to restore a long-dormant oversight committee to address inadequate medical and mental health services at the Nassau County Correctional Center.

The committee, the Board of Visitors, is mandated by the County Charter, but apparently it has never fully operated since being established in 1990. The charter authorizes the seven-member committee to respond to inmate grievances and advise the sheriff on programs that would improve the care and treatment of people housed at the jail.

“The county is not meeting its constitutional obligation to ensure safe and humane conditions at the jail,” said Samantha Fredrickson, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Nassau County Chapter. “The Board of Visitors would provide badly needed oversight and help ensure that people housed at the jail are receiving the health care they need.”

In a letter submitted to legislators, the advocates argue that the Legislature is legally obligated to appoint and maintain the committee. The committee’s work is badly needed given ongoing concerns over deteriorating conditions at the jail where five inmates have died since 2010. Four of those deaths were suicides, and the fifth and most recent death involved an inmate who had gone to the infirmary complaining of chest pains. According to press reports, he was given Tylenol and returned to his cell where he died later that night.

Additionally, the number of complaints from inmates and their families about inadequate medical and mental health services has skyrocketed. The jail is ill-equipped to handle this flood of grievances.

“There are only a handful of health care providers to care for roughly 2,000 inmates,” said Pat Dellatto, N.P., director of the Nassau Inmate Advocacy Group. “It can take days for someone to be seen by a provider, and the inmate may then have quite a few medical problems that may never be addressed. Additionally, it’s nearly impossible for inmates to get specialty care for chronic conditions. An oversight committee comprised of people from various backgrounds would go a long way to help address these problems. It would also take the burden off the county from having to fix everything.”

According to the charter, the committee is to be composed of seven county residents who will serve three-year terms and have some “working knowledge of the correctional system.” The committee is required to have an office at the jail and access to jail records, books and data.

Aside from addressing the inadequate health care services, the committee should also review visitor services at the jail.

“Families find visiting intimidating and the system difficult to negotiate,” said Barbara Allan, director of Prison Families Anonymous. “It is well documented that nothing affects the inmates post release success as much as having close ties with family. Family ties are instrumental in reducing stress felt by individuals separated from their loved ones, in assuring families that their imprisoned relative is all right, in promoting the prisoners mental health, in maintaining family bonds, in decreasing recidivism and increasing public safety.”

The following organizations signed the letter to legislators: NYCLU Nassau County Chapter, Nassau Inmate Advocacy Group, Prison Families Anonymous, Nassau Affirmative Action Project , STRONG Youth, Inc., the Freeport-Roosevelt NAACP and the Long Island Caribbean American Association.