Inspector general report exposes violations of HALT Solitary Confinement Act

August 7, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Rikers Island, where the New York State Inspector General's report highlights ongoing violations of the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, calling for urgent reform and compliance. Photo: Ted Shaffrey/AP

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The New York State Inspector General, Lucy Lang, issued a report on Tuesday titled “Review of the First Two Years of HALT at the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision,” revealing widespread violations of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act.

The report highlights the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s systematic failure to adhere to the law’s requirements, including exceeding the 15-day cap on solitary confinement and neglecting to conduct mandatory evidentiary hearings.

The HALT Act, effective since March 31, 2022, was designed to limit the use of solitary confinement in New York State prisons, capping it at 15 consecutive days and requiring therapeutic and rehabilitative alternatives.

However, the report found that DOCCS frequently violated these provisions, with insufficient documentation and failure to provide necessary out-of-cell time to inmates. Inspector General Lang emphasized that DOCCS’s outdated paper-based recordkeeping hindered oversight and compliance with HALT, recommending a transition to electronic records for better transparency and monitoring.

Jerome Wright, co-director of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, responded to the report with frustration, urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to enforce the HALT Act more rigorously.

“How many more reports and lawsuits is it going to take for Gov. Hochul and DOCCS to follow the HALT Solitary Confinement Law?” Wright asked. “It is outrageous that this rogue state agency continues to flagrantly violate a law passed by a supermajority of both houses of the state legislature and signed by the governor.”

The report follows a successful class-action lawsuit and various other reports highlighting the state’s failure to comply with HALT. These documents reveal ongoing issues such as improper segregation of vulnerable individuals, failure to conduct individual assessments before using restraints, and inconsistent tracking of out-of-cell time for inmates.

Despite some reforms, the Inspector General’s review underscores the need for more comprehensive and effective measures to ensure compliance with the law.

“While the Inspector General’s review found that DOCCS has and continues to take meaningful steps to comply with HALT, efforts at detailed analysis highlighted the impediments to monitoring a sprawling system with dozens of facilities, which employ divergent and often deficient recordkeeping processes,” Lang wrote in the report.

“To that end, and in addition to the recommendations specifically designed to increase DOCCS’s compliance with HALT, the Inspector General recommends that DOCCS undertake the process of developing holistic electronic recordkeeping to enable increased oversight and transparency of its compliance with this and other relevant laws.”

The HALT Act was inspired by the United Nations’ “Nelson Mandela Rules,” which advocate for the humane treatment of prisoners. The law redefined segregated confinement and established Residential Rehabilitation Units (RRUs) to provide therapy and rehabilitative programs. However, the Inspector General’s report indicates that the intended benefits of these reforms have yet to be fully realized due to DOCCS’s inadequate implementation and oversight.

Governor Hochul and DOCCS have faced mounting pressure to address these violations and ensure that the HALT Act’s provisions are properly enforced to prevent further harm to inmates and improve overall prison safety. The report calls for immediate action to rectify the identified issues and uphold the humane treatment standards envisioned by the HALT Act.