Stefanik slams Hochul for reported prison closure
Rep. Elise Stefanik criticized New York Governor Kathy Hochul for her decision to close the bare Hill Correctional Facility and part of the Collins Correctional Facility just before the holiday season. Stefanik condemned the move as “heartless,” accusing Hochul of disregarding the concerns and well-being of correctional officers, especially amid ongoing staffing shortages and unsafe working conditions. The closures come as Hochul ramps up fundraising for her reelection campaign. The decision follows a important illegal strike earlier this year by thousands of corrections officers protesting staffing shortages and dangerous conditions, a situation worsened after the 2021 HALT Act, which restricted solitary confinement and aimed to implement rehabilitation programs but was criticized for increasing violence and insecurity in prisons. Stefanik announced her gubernatorial bid to challenge Hochul and vows to include correctional officers in her coalition to unseat the governor. Despite a recent poll showing Hochul with a solid lead, Stefanik aims to capitalize on dissatisfaction within the corrections community.
Stefanik rips New York gubernatorial rival Hochul for ‘heartlessly’ closing prison before holidays
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) condemned Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s (D-NY) reported decision to announce the shutdown of a major state prison.
Hochul’s announcement to shut down the Bare Hill Correctional Facility and part of the Collins Correctional Facility comes as she raises funds for her gubernatorial reelection race in New York next year.
“We have heard from correctional officers that Kathy Hochul will be announcing more prison closures this morning. Once again, Hochul does this heartlessly right before the holidays, ripping the rug out from under our correctional officers and their families,” Stefanik stated.
Stefanik added that Hochul has once again “turned her back” on hardworking correctional officers, adding that she has previously ignored the concerns of correctional officers, which placed “them in harm’s way.”
“This is another heartless announcement just before the holiday season,” Stefanik added.
Hochul is expected to cite staffing shortages as the reason for the prison’s closure.
Earlier this year, thousands of corrections officers walked off the job in an illegal three-week strike over the severe staffing shortage, mandatory overtime, and unsafe working conditions.
Hochul’s administration ended the strike in April and fired approximately 2,000 officers who participated in it.
The strike came after the 2021 passage of the HALT Act, which ended the solitary confinement incarceration of dangerous prison inmates and implemented programs of therapeutic rehabilitation for violent detainees. Critics of the legislation say its passage only facilitated a hostile climate from inmate populations, which led to the officers’ strike over unsafe conditions, as well as the officer staffing shortage.
“There were 1,760 attacks [on staff] in 2024 alone,” DiPietro added. “Inmate-on-inmate assaults [are] up 169%, and inmate-on-staff assaults [are] up 76% since the implementation of HALT,” state Assemblyman DiPietro previously told the Washington Examiner.
“Even inmates themselves have admitted in letters that the system is out of control,” DiPietro said. “The warning signs have been evident for years, yet nothing has been done to protect our correctional officers,” DiPietro added.
New York State Corrections and Community Supervision data have noted that assaults against inmates and staff increased substantially after the passage of the legislation.
Between 2019 and 2021, there were between 1,043 and 1,117 assaults on staff and between 1,107 and 1,267 assaults on prisoners.
In 2022 alone, following the enactment of the bill, attacks toward prison staff reached 1,473, and in 2023 rose to 1,671. Attacks between inmates increased by an even greater margin, to 1,488 in 2022 and 2,107 in 2023.
On Nov. 7, Stefanik announced her bid for governor against Hochul next year, and she hopes to add corrections officers to her campaign next year.
NEW YORK LAWMAKER DEMANDS HALT ACT BE REPEALED AFTER HOCHUL FIRED 2,000 PRISON GUARDS
“Mark my words, correctional officers across the state will be part of our coalition next year that will fire Kathy Hochul to Save New York,” Stefanik concluded.
A Sunday poll from Sienna University found that Hochul’s lead against Stefanik has decreased by 5% but still leads by a decisive 20-point margin.
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