In February, thousands of New York state prison guards walked off their jobs. With no officers to watch over daily operations, officials locked incarcerated people in their cells for days at a time. Governor Kathy Hochul deployed 6,000 National Guard troops, who assisted skeleton crews in trying to keep more than 30,000 prisoners fed and showered. At least seven incarcerated people died amid the chaos.
The wildcat strike ended after three weeks. Yet four months later, thousands of officer positions remain unfilled, and the state prison agency has struggled to resume normal operations, recent court records show.
Dozens of New York’s 42 state prisons aren’t holding weekend visitation. They’ve canceled summer school, sports leagues, religious study classes, and other programs. They’ve paused work release and counseling sessions and are cutting daily outdoor recreation time short. Some have extended officers’ shifts from eight hours to 12 and kept incarcerated people in their cells for upwards of 20 hours a day…