ROCHESTER, N.Y. — One year ago tonight, Robert Brooks of Greece was killed inside a state prison in central New York. Six former guards are now in prison. Today, a bill full of prison reforms sits on the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The reforms in the bill include more cameras in prisons, releasing video related to inmate deaths in a timely manner, producing detailed autopsy reports and increasing the window where inmates can sue for injuries to three years after they get out of prison.
Scroll down to find a detailed list of changes in the prison reform bill
Tuesday morning, members of Citizen Action and the Judicial Process Commission left Rochester for Albany. They were going to the rally to pressure the governor to sign the prison reform bill.
The assault of Robert Brooks was recorded on prison guard body cameras. One guard was convicted of murder. Five others pleaded guilty to manslaughter. News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean caught up with some of our local people after the rally and asked them what today means to them.
Chayanne Rivera, Judicial Process Commission: “Today, for us, is really just a cry out for justice.”
Sid Harrison, Judicial Process Commission: “It’s just a long uphill battle.”
Frederick Broughton, Judicial Process Commission: “Put a little pressure on them to get some changes to be made.”
Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “What did his death do to try to effect some change?”
Chayanne Rivera: “His death sounds an alarm to what is really going on.”
After Brooks’ death, the state added more fixed cameras to cover blind spots in prisons and mandated that every guard wear a body camera.
Another one of the local people who rallied in Albany was Jalil Muntaqim. He served 49 years in prison for killing two New York City police officers. He went at 19 and got out at 68.
Berkeley Brean: “What does this day mean to you?”
Jalil Muntaqim, Special Project Coordinator, Citizen Action: “We would like to say it’s a day of infamy but that’s only if Governor Hochul signs the bill. It will change the dynamics of how we incarcerate people and how we treat people within in the incarceration system.”
Berkeley Brean: “Why do you think she hasn’t signed it yet?”
Jalil Muntaqim: “Possibly because she wants to straddle the fence in regards to what is right in change in the social order. And I don’t think the guards are prepared for that. And I think that’s what she’s confronting for the most part.”
The reform bill landed on the governor’s desk last night. She has 10 days to sign it.
“Today we remember the life of Robert Brooks, one year after the brutal attack that resulted in his murder,” Hochul wrote in a statement Tuesday. “I am committed to further action to ensure our facilities are safer, and hopeful the Legislature will agree to some common sense changes to legislation currently on my desk that would allow us to advance reforms together.”
The governor’s office would not specify what changes the governor wants.
The prison guard union wrote in an email that it has not taken a position on the reform bill but “we have advocated and stated the Legislature should take into account the reforms to HALT that the HALT Committee recommended over the summer that was commissioned after the strike ended.”
The HALT Act deals with changes to solitary confinement.
Here are details about the reform bill:
- Part A requires the disclosure of video footage related to deaths involving correctional officers to the Attorney General’s Office within 72 hours.
- Part B mandates correctional facilities to maintain comprehensive camera coverage, preserve footage for a minimum of one year and conduct regular assessments.
- Part C requires prompt notification to next of kin and public notice of deaths in custody.
- Part D directs the state commission of correction to study deaths in correctional facilities and provide recommendations for improvements.
- Part E, known as the “Terry Cooper autopsy accountability act,” mandates autopsy reports to include photographs, microscopic slides and post-mortem x-rays.
- Part F addresses potential conflicts within the Office of Special Investigation and provides for the appointment of a special district attorney if needed.
- Part G requires the commissioner to report data from the Office of Special Investigations quarterly.
- Part H expands the state commission of correction from three to nine members, including diverse professional backgrounds.
- Part I enhances the Correctional Association’s access to state prisons for independent monitoring and oversight.
- Part J extends the statute of limitations for incarcerated individuals to file civil claims to three years after release.
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