2022 Act Drives Prison Violence and Helped Lead to Crisis
ALBANY – Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to immediately repeal the HALT Act to restore safety to New York’s prisons.
“The HALT Act puts the lives of corrections officers, prison staff and inmates in danger every single day. The HALT Act eliminated one of the few tools corrections officers had to maintain safety and order,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
The Human Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act took effect in 2022. It limits the use of solitary confinement in state prisons as a tool to control aggressive inmates. It caps the amount of time an inmate can be held in segregated confinement housing to 15 days, or 20 days over a two-month period.
“Since the HALT Act passed inmate-on-inmate assaults are up 169 percent and inmate on staff assaults are up 76 percent. There are few jobs that are more difficult and more dangerous than that of corrections officers. The HALT Act has made that job almost impossible to do and it has made our prisons dangerous for corrections officers and the inmates,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
Assemblyman Sempolinski and his minority caucus colleagues sent a letter to Gov. Hochul demanding the HALT Act be immediately rescinded.
The HALT Act was part of a series bills that have dismantled New York’s criminal justice system since the passage of legislation in 2019 that eliminated cash bail for most non-felony offenses. These laws were drafted, pushed through the Assembly and Senate and signed by the governor after democrats became the majority in both houses of the state Legislature.
“New York is in crisis and it’s a crisis caused by one-party rule in Albany. I’m calling on the governor to stand up for the rule of law. Stand up for crime victims instead of criminals. And do the right thing and repeal the HALT Act,” Assemblyman Sempolinski said.
Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski represents the 148th New York Assembly District, which consists of all of Cattaraugus and Allegany counties and portions of Steuben County.
