Governor Kathy Hochul has been slammed by the Long Island district attorney for her decision to release hundreds of inmates due to staffing shortages at state prisons.
Anne Donnelly, the Republican DA for Nassau County since 2021, said Hochul is being ‘reckless’ and ‘shortsighted.’
‘Governor Hochul’s decision to release hundreds or even thousands of prisoners before they have served their full prison terms is a reckless and shortsighted response to a crisis of her own making,’ Donnelly, who is running for re-election this fall, told the New York Post.
Donnelly is referring to the 22-day long strike prison guards mounted at nearly all the state’s 42 penitentiaries. A deal was reached to end the work stoppage on March 11, and the remaining 2,000 corrections officers who were still striking were summarily fired.
State Correction Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said there are roughly 10,000 officers on the job, down 26 percent from the 13,500 officers that were employed before the strike, the New York Daily News reported.
On March 31, Martuscello circulated a memo ordering prison leaders to find inmates who were convicted of minor crimes, and already primed for release within 15 to 110 days to be considered for an early discharge, according to the Associated Press.
Roughly a month later, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) has announced that it has identified 766 inmates who were eligible for an early release under Hochul’s plan.
As of Tuesday this week, 103 prisoners have been released to residential treatment programs, the Post reported.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, blasted New York Governor Kathy Hochul (right) for signing off on a plan to release hundreds of inmates in state prisons
Donnelly is pursuing legislation that would prevent the state from being able to release prisoners’ early to address staffing or budget challenges (Pictured: Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York)
Another 142 are being reviewed for potential release, while the remaining 521 individuals were deemed ineligible because they either had pending warrants or were not approved for non-shelter residence.
‘This move undermines the safety of law-abiding New Yorkers and sends the wrong message to those who have been convicted of crimes,’ Donnelly said.
Donnelly, with the help of Republican state assemblyman Ed Ra, is drafting legislation that would prevent the state from being able to release prisoners’ early to address staffing or budget challenges.
More than 12,000 corrections officers walked off the job on February 17 and eventually began costing the state roughly $3.5 million a day.
That’s because Hochul signed an emergency declaration replacing the striking workers with National Guardsmen.
Hochul’s office accused Donnelly and Ra of grandstanding and condoning the strike, which was illegal under a state law that prohibits all public sector employees from striking.
‘New York’s correctional system is facing a staffing crisis because thousands of correction officers broke the law, walked off the job and refused to return to work — putting their fellow COs, civilian staff and incarcerated individuals at risk,’ Jess D’Amelia, a spokesperson for Hochul, told DailyMail.com.
‘Instead of being honest with New Yorkers, these politicians are defending lawbreakers and twisting the truth,’ the spokesperson added.
State Correction Commissioner Daniel Martuscello is the one facilitating the early release of eligible prisoners
Martuscello was also key in negotiating the deal that ended the strike and fired 2,000 corrections officers (Pictured: A strike at Bare Hill Correctional Facility in Malone)
She said the government will not be granting an early release to anyone who has been convicted of sex crimes, terrorism or violent felonies.
D’Amelia also said the Hochul administration will be working to improve working conditions for prison guards, the reason they went on strike in the first place.
DOCCS spokesman Thomas Mailey said much the same thing, adding that serious felonies like murder, terrorism, and arson also disqualify inmates for early release.
‘Commissioner Martuscello directed that a list of incarcerated individuals who are scheduled to be released in the next few months be reviewed for their transition into Residential Treatment,’ Mailey said.
‘Participating individuals must also have an approved residence, which is not a shelter or [Department of Social Services] placement.’
This essentially means that inmates must already have a home to go back to that isn’t a shelter or transitional housing for released inmates.
