State Prison Indefinitely Detaining Paroled, Terminally Ill Man
New legal challenge follows 20-month confinement beyond scheduled release
NEW YORK – The New York Civil Liberties Union, with the Parole Preparation Project, has filed an appeal challenging the indefinite incarceration of Steve Coleman, a 67-year-old terminally ill man who was granted parole in 2023 but has still yet to be released because of his disabilities.
The challenge, filed in the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, argues that by requiring Mr. Coleman be institutionalized in a nursing home in order to be released on parole—then failing to identify a single nursing home to which it could release him— the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) is violating Mr. Coleman’s constitutional right to medical autonomy and the state’s Equal Rights Amendment, which protects against disability discrimination.
“All competent adults, including those who are incarcerated and on parole, have the right to determine the course of their end-of-life medical treatment, and Mr. Coleman is not an exception,” said Daniel Lambright, Special Counsel for Criminal Justice Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “By refusing to release Mr. Coleman so that he can access medical treatment on his own in the community, DOCCS has cruelly condemned him to suffer behind bars. We ask the court to remove this condition so that Mr. Coleman may be released into the community and spend the rest of his life with dignity.”
Mr. Coleman, who is currently incarcerated at Wende Correctional Facility in Erie County, has been in prison for over forty years since he was 25. In 2022 he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease and a cancerous tumor on his kidneys. Despite being granted parole in 2023, DOCCS refuses to release Mr. Coleman, stating that he must first be accepted into a nursing home with access to dialysis treatment. But DOCCS has failed to identify a single nursing home to which it would release him, and it made dialysis treatment a condition of parole while simultaneously holding Mr. Coleman in prison where he is not receiving any dialysis treatment. Mr. Coleman’s advocates have presented DOCCS with numerous options for release where he could get treatment in the community that DOCCS has rejected, thus prolonging his unlawful detention. Mr. Coleman declined to receive dialysis treatment while in prison because DOCCS has made that process humiliating, requiring that he be shackled and strip searched every time he receives treatment.
“DOCCS pretends to care about my health. Yet they have cruelly weaponized my medical condition against me to keep me locked in prison where I am not receiving any dialysis treatment,” said Mr. Coleman. “Like everyone else, I have the right to determine my own medical care. I hope that the court finds this inhumane DOCCS condition unconstitutional so that I can rejoin the community, get the treatment that I need, and continue advocating for the rights of incarcerated people.”
Mr. Coleman’s case raises broader issues related to the state’s parole system. DOCCS keeps many people who have been paroled in prison, including those with disabilities, by claiming they need a level of care that they do not. The department also routinely blocks requests from terminally ill New Yorkers for medical release. Over the last decade, DOCCS has also kept in prison hundreds of people convicted of sex offenses past their release dates because of New York’s sex offense law. Last year, the NYCLU filed a lawsuit challenging this law. Overall, about 250 people in New York are kept incarcerated each year despite having earned their release.
“After Mr. Coleman worked with Parole Prep volunteers to successfully navigate the arduous and confounding process of being granted parole, it is deeply troubling that he remains in prison suffering the full indignities and burdens of incarceration,” said Gina Papera-Ewing, Senior Attorney with the Parole Preparation Project. “DOCCS does not contend there is any public safety reason for continuing to imprison Mr. Coleman. Instead, DOCCS has determined that they know best about Mr. Coleman’s needs, prohibiting him from making his own choices about his medical care, undermining his autonomy, and usurping his right to self-determination.”
New York’s prisons are facing an aging crisis, with over 25 percent of the incarcerated population now over the age of 50. Criminal justice advocates, led by the Release Aging People in Prisons (RAPP) have sought to address this issue with the Elder Parole Bill and the Fair and Timely Parole Bill. The bills would allow thousands of incarcerated New Yorkers to become eligible for parole and provide more meaningful parole reviews for those who are already parole eligible.
NYCLU counsel on the case include NYCLU attorneys Daniel Lambright, Rubin Danberg Biggs, Bobby Hodgson and paralegal Zawareen Zakaria.
You can find case materials here: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/coleman-habeas-appeal-matter-of-rayner-v-martuscello