For Immediate Release:

Media Advisory for Events Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Contact:
Martha Kashickey
(212) 364-5398
jailstandards@gmail.com 

WHITE PLAINS, New York, April 16, 2007 – Advocates, prisoners, former prisoners, and prisoners’ families strongly object to the changes to minimum standards in New York City jails proposed by the Board of Corrections and will hold a press conference to address dangers to public safety and inhumane conditions. A large coalition of groups will demand the proposed revisions be withdrawn and will propose alternate changes. The Board of Corrections, the independent oversight board of the New York City jail system, will take commentary from the public at an open hearing.

Who: Formerly incarcerated individuals, their friends and families;
Maddy deLone, Executive Director of the Innocence Project, former Deputy Director of the Board of Correction; Michael B. Mushlin, James D. Hopkins Professor of Law at Pace Law School, author of Rights of Prisoners and a long-time advocate for prison reform;  Dana Kaplan, Open Society Institute Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights; Corey Stoughton, Staff Attorney, New York Civil Liberties Union

When: Tuesday, April 17

Public Hearing: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Press Conference: Coalition to Raise the Minimum Standards press conference will be held during the lunch break at the offices of the Legal Aid Society (approx. 12:30pm)

Where: Public Hearing: City Planning Commission hearing room
22 Reade St., 1st floor
Press Conference: Legal Aid Society, 49 Thomas St., 1st floor

Background

The Board of Corrections was established in 1957 to monitor New York City’s jails and has the authority to visit facilities, inspect all records, and make recommendations for better practices. The “Minimum Standards for New York City Correctional Facilities” are the basic rules of the jail system which were imposed in 1978 amid a crisis of violence and overcrowding in the city’s jails.

The Minimum Standards have a major impact on the daily lives of prisoners, from personal hygiene to how many individuals may be packed into dormitory rooms to how many hours they may be locked into cells. The rules affect families as well, covering visiting policies, telephone access, and correspondence with their family members who are in jail.

The Coalition to Raise the Minimum Standards was formed after the Board of Corrections first published the proposed standards revisions in January 2007. The Coalition consists of former prisoners, current and former prisoners’ families, and members of the following prisoners’ rights and social justice organizations working in NYC and across the country:

Bronx Defenders
Center for Constitutional Rights
Correctional Association
Fordham Law Amnesty International
Fordham Law Prisoners’ Rights Advocates
Innocence Project, affiliated with Cardozo Law School
Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Re-Entry and Employment
Legal Aid Society
New York City Anti-Violence Project
New York Civil Liberties Union
October 22 Coalition
Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy at Cardozo Law School
Reentry Net
Stop Prisoner Rape
Society for Immigrant & Refugee Rights at the Columbia University School of Law
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Urban Justice Center
William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice

What Are Some of the Proposals?

More crowding: Moving from 50 people per dorm to 60 people per dorm (and from 60 square feet of space per person to 50 square feet of space per person) is unsafe for both inmates and jail personnel. This proposal will lead to more injury and violence to inmates and staff in the jails.

Expanding 23-hour cell lock-ins to inmates seeking protective custody: This kind of isolation was formerly used only for punishment for serious disciplinary infractions. “Close custody” is proposed to be extended to inmates who are segregated for their own safety or because the facility believes it is the only way to protect other people in the jails. This proposal will increase the risk of suicide and the other detrimental effects of isolation to populations who seek protective custody.

Surveillance and censorship of telephone calls, mail, and packages without a warrant: Jail officials will now be permitted to (1) read all mail if a jail warden has a “reasonable basis to believe” that the correspondence threatens jail security, another person, or the public and (2) record and listen to prisoners’ phone calls for any reason. These proposals should be significantly narrowed to prevent the abuse of the constitutional rights of inmates, their families and friends.
Denying inmates contact visits with their families and friends during the first 24 hours of their jail stay: This is a period widely recognized to be when newly jailed individuals are at heightened risk of suicide. Jailed young people and parents of young children, in particular, should not be barred from contact with their family members in post arrest visits.

Reduction of translation service requirements: The rule that sufficient Spanish- speaking staff and volunteers be in every facility to assist “Hispanic prisoners in understanding, and participating, in various institutional programs and activities…” is reduced to a rule that all non-English-speaking prisoners understand all written and oral communications. These changes will lead to frustrated prisoners and more danger for jail personnel. This proposal must be changed. While we applaud recognition that there are other languages spoken by prisoners than Spanish and English, as a predominant group in the jails, Spanish-speaking prisoners should continue to be supported in all aspects of jail life.

To obtain a full copy of the Board of Corrections’ proposed revisions, email jailstandards@gmail.com.
 

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is located a suburban campus in White Plains, N.Y., twenty miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school offers the JD program for full-time and part-time day and evening students. Its postgraduate program includes the LLM and SJD degrees in Environmental Law and an LLM in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, securities arbitration, criminal justice, and disability rights. www.law.pace.edu.

A private university in the New York Metropolitan area, Pace University is commemorating 100 years of providing opportunity, educating achievers in business, industry, healthcare, education, government, and law. Pace has a growing national reputation for teaching and learning based on research, fostering engagement with critical issues locally and globally, for international perspectives and measurable outcomes. It is one of ten founders of Project Pericles, developing education that encourages lifelong participation in democratic processes. Pace has seven campuses, including downtown and midtown New York City, Pleasantville, Briarcliff, and White Plains. Approximately 13,700 diverse students are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, Lubin School of Business, Ivan G. Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, and School of Law.  www.pace.edu