NYCLU Condemns DOCCS’s Proposed HALT Act Rollbacks

NEW YORK – Today the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) released its proposed rollbacks to the HALT Act, the historic state law restricting the use of solitary confinement. Comprised entirely of HALT opponents, the DOCCS HALT Committee did not meaningfully consult with directly impacted individuals or organizations like the NYCLU that have represented people who have been subjected to the torture that is solitary.

In response, the New York Civil Liberties Union released the following statement from Bernadette Rabuy, policy counsel at the NYCLU.

“DOCCS is not a lawmaker, and the agency cannot just defy a law it doesn’t like and has steadfastly refused to implement.

“These rollbacks are especially egregious considering the humanitarian crisis that is New York’s state prison system. They are a brazen effort to subvert the will of New Yorkers, who voted for legislators that rightly removed the torture of long-term solitary confinement from our laws. We will continue to hold DOCCS accountable for never faithfully implementing HALT and to ensure that long term solitary confinement, a practice that doesn’t make anyone safer and inflicts immense harm, does not return.”

Last month, the NYCLU filed a contempt motion against DOCCS for continuing to illegally subject people to prolonged solitary confinement. Last year, following a lawsuit brought by the NYCLU and Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York (PLS), a court found that the department had violated HALT, the New York law restricting the use of solitary confinement. You can find the motion and other case materials here: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/fields-v-annucci

Read more from the NYCLU on DOCCS’s noncompliance with HALT here: https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/what-the-new-york-prison-strike-was-really-about