:
See main List of New York state prisons As of 2022, New York State maintains forty-four state prisons, down from sixty-eight in 2011. By design, inmates are moved with some frequency between prisons, based on the belief that inmate–staff friendships that might lead, for example, to drug smuggling by staff. In part as a response to the
Attica Prison uprising of 1971, a number of measures were taken to avoid future confrontations and reduce tensions between guards and prisoners. All New York State correctional facilities have monthly meetings between elected prisoner representatives and the prison administration, at which prisoners may present their concerns. A grievance process was instituted, by which prisoners may grieve any employee whom they feel is acting in violation of regulations. Other
prison uprisings occurred across the country during the 1970s, spurred by poor prison conditions and demanding reforms. At
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum security women's prison, the
August Rebellion led to greater protection of the rights of incarcerated people in the United States. Following the prison riot the women filed and won the
class-action lawsuit Powell v. Ward. The lawsuit ended in a legally binding pledge by prison guards to conduct disciplinary proceedings fairly and to only send truly mentally ill prisoners to
psychiatric hospitals.
Facilities and communication policies Prisons are required to have law libraries, and most prisons have a general library, with a professional librarian. Incarcerated people usually have a limited amount of time to be outdoors (in "the yard"). Incarcerated people have access to telephones, which requires recording and monitoring of calls, and some email access. Calls and emails can only be made out to pre-approved numbers and addresses. A prisoner lawsuit about 2010 dramatically reduced the very high charges per minute by the telephone service provider. New York has instituted a package policy, effective August 15, 2022, that allows incarcerated people to receive only two personally boxed packages per year from friends or family. All other packages— e.g., clothes, packaged foods, and other allowable items— must be purchased and shipped directly from vendors (such as
Amazon). Inmates are allowed three packages per month, based on the date they arrive at the facility (i.e., a package ordered January 31 that arrives in February will count towards February's package log). The policy prohibits visitors from bringing gifts of any kind to the prison, whereas visitors were allowed to bring gifts and drop them off at the package room in the past.
Death row Prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, the male death row was at the
Clinton Correctional Facility and the female death row was at the
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. The execution chamber was located at the
Green Haven Correctional Facility. Previously, inmates had been executed at the
Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Capital punishment was banned following the
U.S. Supreme Court's ruling declaring existing capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in
Furman v. Georgia (1972), but was reinstated in New York in 1995 when
Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law, which provided for
execution by
lethal injection. On June 24, 2004, in the case
People v. LaValle, the
New York Court of Appeals struck down the statute as unconstitutional under the
New York Constitution (at the time, only two individuals were under a sentence of death). Although seven individuals were sentenced to death, no one was executed, and the Court of Appeals later commuted the sentence of the final individual under a sentence of death in New York on October 23, 2007, in the case
People v. John Taylor. In July 2008,
Governor David Paterson ordered the removal of all execution equipment used to perform lethal injection and the closure of the execution chamber at Green Haven Correctional Facility. ==COVID-19 response==