North Country Assemblyman Scott Gray says that the omnibus prison reform legislation introduced in response to challenges with the state Department of Corrections fails to address the core issues causing harm in New York State Prisons. 

In the June 12 episode of his “Gray Area” video series the assemblyman said he opposes the bill and plans to vote against it. 

State Senator Dan Stec similarly decried the June 13 passage of the bill in a press release. 

Gray said that Assembly bill A8871 is not necessarily about reform,” He said it is rather “a constant look at the corrections officers, they are the bad people, instead of looking at the system itself and figuring out how to fix it from the inside out.”

Similarly, Stec described the legislation as a “series of measures that expand rights for incarcerated individuals at the expense of correction officers.”

Gray reiterated, “I’ll be voting no on this bill because this doesn’t do anything to fix the internal problems in the facility.”

Stec’s sentiment echoed that of Gray, saying the proposed measures “do nothing to address the longstanding, well-documented safety crises inside correctional facilities.”

Gray said that addressing key issues like prison contraband and separating “bad actors” from the general prison population should be priority in the effort to reform the state Department of Corrections.
“Those are the fixes that we need to be focused on,” Gray said. “And then we can focus on some of these oversight measures as well.”

Stec said that  “three things that would immediately make correctional facilities safer” include the mandatory use of body scanners, improvements in the vendor process, and the repeal of the HALT act, which implements limitations on the use of solitary confinement. 

Gray said that by addressing those issues facilities can move toward “some safety for both the incarcerated individuals and the corrections officers. 

Gray also reviewed some of the key provisions of the bill, which he called “one-sided."

Some of those measures include enhanced surveillance standards, stricter reporting, and the release of video footage when inmates die in custody. 

Stec described the June 13 passage of the bill in the state Senate as “a slap in the face to our state employees.”