New York Governor Pulls Plug on Prison Watchdog Funding
In the wake of the killing of Robert Brooks by guards at the Marcy Correctional Facility in December 2024, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a slew of initiatives designed to reign in the state’s murderous prison system [See: PLN, Apr. 2025, p.9.] These measures included $2 million in funding for the Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a watchdog nonprofit that is required by state law to oversee prison conditions. Budget negotiations brought in an additional $1 for CANY, allowing the organization to hire 10 full-time employees, visit more prisons and monitor them more closely, and set out guidelines to improve conditions.
But now, as New York Focus reported, Hochul has decided to pull state funding from CANY by excluding it from her budget proposal for the next fiscal year. With its previous funding level, CANY was able to visit six prisons with the most serious problems three times over nine months, interviewing prisoners and staff. In past years, it had only visited state facilities once every four or five years.
Legislators who work on prison reform like Sen. Julia Salazar (D) are hopeful that CANY’s funding can be restored during negotiations before the final budget is due on April 1 of this year. The $3 million previously allocated for CANY represents only 0.07% of the total amount that New York pays annually to fund its Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. CANY’s funding is also a small fraction of the hundreds of millions that New York is currently paying to deploy National Guard members to alleviate under-staffing in its state prisons.
Source: New York Focus
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