Hochul, lawmakers want to 'transform' state's prison system

But it's unclear if they share the same ideas to get there with a month of session left.

Good afternoon — it’s Monday and Limerick Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Hochul and lawmakers want to overhaul state prisons in response to inmate deaths but the clock is ticking on this year’s legislative session.

• The Court of Appeals holds its May session this week, including cases on cash bail and substantial equivalency standards.

• A new bill would redirect downstate casino revenue back upstate so localities don’t lose out.

• This Week in New York History: The New York Stock Exchange, the NAACP and Joseph Henry.

Names in today’s CapCon: Robert L. Brooks, Messiah Nantwi, Kathy Hochul, Julia Salazar, Joseph Addabbo, Pat Fahy, Yudelka Tapia

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(Charles O’Rear/Getty Images)

⚖️ Hochul and lawmakers agree New York’s prisons need to change

When Robert L. Brooks died after being beaten by correction officers in December, there was a lot of finger-pointing to find blame.

The list of entities that control or influence the state’s prison system and the people within it is not short. It’s run by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision at the governor’s direction but held to laws approved by the Legislature.

There’s also a lot of outside groups that have influence. The Correctional Association of New York, for example, is designated under state law as the entity charged with visiting and reporting on the conditions in state prisons.

They do that often: people incarcerated at Washington Correctional Facility told the group in a recent visit that staff allegedly assaulted inmates “on the way to or while in medical examination rooms” — Brooks was beaten in an infirmary.

Other groups hold influence in state prisons as well, like criminal justice advocacy groups and NYSCOPBA, the union representing correction officers.

All of those parts have brought the state’s prison system to what it is today, for better or for worse depending on your political views.

The state is now undertaking a systemwide review to find areas of improvement after the death of Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, who died after a similar incident at Mid-State Correctional Facility.

Gov. Kathy Hochul secured some changes in the state budget I’ve already told you about, including expanded responsibilities for the state Commission of Correction.

You may not have heard of that commission because it’s kept a low profile in recent years. While it’s supposed to be an oversight body for correctional facilities, criminal justice advocates have viewed it as ineffective.

It will now be responsible for visiting every correctional facility in the state at least once a year and the budget gave it the funding to do so.

It had a budget of $4.1 million in last year’s state budget. That increased to $7.1 million in the budget approved last week by Hochul and the Legislature.

But Hochul told me last week that she wants to do more beyond that to revamp the state’s prison system.

“This is a system that is in desperate need of reform. I’m prepared to meet that effort. We have outcomes I’m not satisfied with,” Hochul said. “I’m dedicated to making sure we have a system that we can be proud of and I’m not proud of it right now.”