NEW YORK STATE’S BLACK, PUERTO RICAN, HISPANIC AND ASIAN LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS TRAVELED TO FISHKILL PRISON TO BEAR WITNESS & CALL FOR FURTHER REFORMS
BEACON, NY (April 15, 2021) – On Tuesday, April 13th, the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian (BPHA) Legislative Caucus led an unannounced visit to Fishkill Correctional Facility. The group of fifteen legislators and staff included Senators Julia Salazar, Robert Jackson, John Liu, Jabari Brisport, Assembly Members Clyde Vanel and Stefani Zinerman, and Executive Director Kyle Ishmael. In the wake of passing the HALT Solitary Confinement Act and the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, the trip provided further opportunity to ensure proper implementation of recent reforms, and to highlight the work that remains ahead.
Lawmakers organized this prison visit with a recognition of the ongoing structural racism in New York’s criminal legal system, and the urgent need to continue advancing a legislative agenda that would decarcerate New York and address the racist legacy of mass incarceration, criminalization and deportation. “New York’s prison population is 75% Black or Latinx,” highlighted Chairwoman Michaelle Solages. “Black and Latinx New Yorkers are arrested more often, sentenced more harshly and denied parole more frequently. And the Caucus will continue to legislate these inequities out of our legal system by advancing a platform that includes parole reform, expanded expungement, and humanity and dignity for all immigrants.”
Lawmakers who made the visit expressed the following:
“The COVID-19 crisis has made it even more important for legislators to use our lawful privilege to visit and tour correctional facilities across the state,” said Senator Julia Salazar. “Visiting Fishkill Correctional Facility with fellow Caucus Members underscored the urgency of passing the Justice Roadmap legislation, including the Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole bills.”
“We were treated with respect as legislators and toured any location we asked to visit, and had the opportunity to directly talk with anyone we wished to speak with. This visit was a powerful reminder of how broken our criminal justice system is and how much work we have left to do as legislators,” remarked Senator Robert Jackson. “I deeply listened to the issues and concerns raised in both our meeting with the Fishkill Correctional Facility leadership team and speaking with the incarcerated people we met during our visit. I heard from people whose mental health had deteriorated because of their time in solitary confinement for the smallest infractions. I heard from someone who has finally been paroled but can’t leave Fishkill yet because he’s unable to find transitional housing. We already have all the policies lined up to get rid of these inhumane systems; this visit with the BPHA Caucus has strengthened my resolve to do so as quickly as we can.”
“Unannounced, in-person site visits such as this are important so that our work as legislators is informed by first-hand interactions with varied individuals within the correctional system, and not just seemingly sanitized information obtained in the course of public hearings,” added Senator John Liu. “The Fishkill supervisors were thorough in taking us through the sprawling prison complex and highlighting the comprehensive array of services provided to inmates, particularly in education and vocational training. But since incarceration costs 3-4 times what education costs, my main takeaway from the visit was that much of Fishkill's hundred-million-dollar annual budget could be so much better spent on educating and training young people in the first place – in school, not prison.”
“This was an incredibly eye-opening experience into the failings of our criminal legal system,” stated Senator Jabari Brisport. “There were elderly incarcerated men there who could barely form words or who had severe dementia, unable to recognize themselves in the mirror. At some point, we have to ask: "why are they still locked up?" We need to pass Elder Parole this legislative session. There is no question about it.”
“We must continue to work toward a more fair and equitable criminal justice system in New York State,” said Assemblyman Clyde Vanel. “It is important for us to visit correctional facilities to make sure the inmates are being treated fairly. Additionally, we must work to reduce the inmate population, especially in the Black and brown communities.”
“As the legislature continues to implement groundbreaking prison reform, we must continue to rely on the expertise of our state agencies to provide rehabilitation services for inmates that will lead to their successful reentry into society,” said Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman. “The collaboration between the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of Corrections staff to provide skilled nursing care and mental services to all inmates including those in long term nursing and cognitive impaired units should be commended. It was evident during my unannounced visit to Fishkill Correctional Facility that the facility is clean, safe and well-run. Inmates have multiple opportunities to improve and correct their mistakes of the past by having access to mental health, education, and vocational services. I truly appreciate the staff for adopting a mentor/mentee relationship that promotes growth and development rather than the prisoner/guard power dynamic that has led to abuses in the past. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the State Legislature to continue to improve working conditions for staff and rehabilitative services for inmates with Fishkill as a model for all other New York State prisons.”
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The New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus is a sixty-eight member body of state legislators representing a quarter of residents across the State of New York from Long Island, the metro New York City area, and upstate.
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