Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.
“Twenty-five former cells have been converted to rooms. Instead of bars, each room has a door and its own bed, sink, toilet and television. Clients will eat in a communal dining area and receive services and some training. It will be a “one-stop shop” for people experiencing homelessness and job loss or living with poorly or untreated substance use disorders or mental illness.“
New York Daily News
September 17, 2019
Read More“In New York prisons, inmates are required to pay for phone calls, stamps and items from the commissary. The last pay raise in New York was approved by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo more than 25 years ago. The legislative sponsors are also calling for a commission to conduct a study examining the cost as well as any benefits of increasing the minimum wage for inmates.“
Albany Times Union
August 27, 2019
Read More“In New York’s shock incarceration programs, prisoners with three years or less left on their sentences can spend six months doing drills, learning military discipline and taking substance abuse classes in a strict “therapeutic community” environment in exchange for an early shot at freedom. “
The Appeal
May 21, 2019
Read More“Between January 2011 and May 2018, 675 elder New Yorkers and more than 1,000 people of all ages have died in a New York state prison. Over the last 20 years, the number of incarcerated older New Yorkers has more than doubled, from 4,706 to greater than 10,000. Yet the state's overall prison population has fallen by 30 percent.“
Albany Times Union
March 30, 2019
Read More“The argument for using solitary is that it is one of the few means that corrections officials have to discipline inmates. There is a place for it, such as in isolating gang members from one another in prison. But there need to be limits on the use of solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure. The HALT Act would allow the use of what’s euphemistically called “special housing units” only for prison violations that constitute a concrete and immediate threat to safety. The governor’s plan would allow time in such units for nearly any violation. There is likely a middle ground to be found.“
Buffalo News
March 16, 2019
Read More“All told, the board concluded that the deaths of approximately 50 prisoners statewide over the past five years could have been prevented with simple medical treatment. Officials with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision say that even one such case is unacceptable, but that only around 0.02% of the total prison population of nearly 50,000 are referenced in the reports.“
NY Daily News
November 12, 2018
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