Prisons

Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at Nomad clothing retailer Noir et Blanc alongside district attorneys about her efforts to reform the state’s discovery law, April 16, 2025.

Albany Push for Prison Reforms Left Out of State Budget

May 15, 2025, 5:00 a.m.May 15, 2025, 9:49 a.m.

The father of fatally beaten inmate Robert Brooks was among those pleading for more oversight and comion in the state prison system.

An illustration shows two correction officers holding down an incarcerated man wearing an orange jumpsuit while nurses stand outside in the hallway.

Criminal Justice

When Prison Nurses Must Choose Between Loyalty to Abusive Guards and Devotion to Patients

May 1, 2025, 6:01 a.m.May 1, 2025, 3:05 p.m.

In dozens of cases, medical personnel in New York prisons were accused of covering up beatings — some under pressure — and rarely faced punishment.

An illustration shows an infirmary room with a hospital bed with orange blood splattered on it; a chair, a desk with a computer on it; a sink and a countertop; and broken glass on the floor.

Prisons

Hidden from Cameras, New York State Prison Infirmaries Became ‘Torture Chambers’

April 30, 2025, 6:01 a.m.May 1, 2025, 2:33 p.m.

After guards beat Robert Brooks to death in December, The Marshall Project found dozens more allegations of abuse in medical rooms.

Prisons

Few Have Left Prison Under Hochul Early-Release Push

April 29, 2025, 5:00 a.m.April 30, 2025, 9:00 a.m.

Just 151 people have left state incarceration out of hundreds potentially eligible as state grapples with a shortage of correction officers. Housing restrictions are a big reason why.

Rikers Island

Advocates Call on City to Protect Transgender People Behind Bars in the Trump Era

April 25, 2025, 5:00 a.m.April 28, 2025, 1:01 p.m.

As the White House and Department of Justice attack funding for trans issues and their very rights, local leaders want state and city lock ups to act proactively.

Lawyers for former prisoner Matthew Raymond filed a lawsuit after he says he was waterboarded by a guard at Auburn Correctional Facility.

Courts

Nearly Decade After Brutal Beating by Prison Guards, Man Gets $1.2 Million Settlement

April 7, 2025, 4:55 a.m.April 6, 2025, 11:32 a.m.

“I know what it's like to be on a f-ing table, chained up, immobilized and to be beaten nonstop,” Matthew Raymond told THE CITY. “It’s not OK. It ruined my life.”

The Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island.

Jails

Rikers Island Forced to Reopen Closed Jail as Understaffed State Prisons Refuse Transfers

April 3, 2025, 5:47 p.m.April 3, 2025, 5:47 p.m.

Some 500 people waiting to be sent to upstate prisons won’t be moved until at least late April, THE CITY has learned.

Alex Rotar speaks in a Rikers Island meeting room about his mental health struggles.

Courts

One Man’s Year on Rikers Exposes Limits of Mental Health Reforms

April 3, 2025, 5:00 a.m.April 6, 2025, 11:05 a.m.

Prosecutors won’t let Alex Rotar into a special court designed to help steer people with mental illness away from incarceration. A proposed law could make that path easier to access.

Gov. Kathy Hochul walks out of Marcy Correctional Facility with barbed wire behind her. She walks with a man in a grey suit on the right and a woman in a beige suit on the left.

Criminal Justice

Prison Deaths and Strike Chaos Reveal Backsliding on Basic Reforms

March 17, 2025, 5:00 a.m.May 14, 2025, 4:54 p.m.

A promised prison overhaul is on a collision course with New York’s long history of keeping basic information about abuses and killings hidden from the public

"G.H. On Strike" read a makeshift placard beneath the Green Haven Correctional Facility sign.

Prisons

State Prison Strike Drags On as Gov. Hochul Threatens Firings and Arrests

March 3, 2025, 7:44 p.m.March 4, 2025, 6:17 a.m.

New York has used both carrots and sticks in a so-far unsuccessful effort to end the wildcat walkout, with the governor now pushing to get permission from a state judge to begin arresting striking officers.

Prisons

Albany Push for Prison Reforms Left Out of State Budget

When Prison Nurses Must Choose Between Loyalty to Abusive Guards and Devotion to Patients

Hidden from Cameras, New York State Prison Infirmaries Became ‘Torture Chambers’

Few Have Left Prison Under Hochul Early-Release Push

Advocates Call on City to Protect Transgender People Behind Bars in the Trump Era

Nearly Decade After Brutal Beating by Prison Guards, Man Gets $1.2 Million Settlement

Rikers Island Forced to Reopen Closed Jail as Understaffed State Prisons Refuse Transfers

One Man’s Year on Rikers Exposes Limits of Mental Health Reforms

Prison Deaths and Strike Chaos Reveal Backsliding on Basic Reforms

State Prison Strike Drags On as Gov. Hochul Threatens Firings and Arrests

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