Hawley joins in letter faulting Hochul administration for failing corrections officers

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 February 2025 at 4:23 pm

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley has joined 16 other Republicans in the State Legislature in sending a letter to Go. Kathy Hochul, blaming her administration for failing to make prisons safer for staff.

Hawley and the other legislators addressed the letter to Hochul and Daniel F. Martuscello III, commissioner of NYS Department of Corrections and Supervision.

“We write to you today to make an appeal on behalf of our Correctional Officers statewide for meaningful dialogue aimed at resolving growing concerns over the safety and stability of our correctional facilities,” the letter states. “Measures taken to improve these areas have continued to fail, rendering all individuals within them at significant risk for danger.”

Correction officers are on strike at 30 of the state’s 42 prisons. The strike started on Monday at Elmira and Collins, and spread to more than 20 by Tuesday including Albion and Orleans.

DOCCS reported a record 1,760 assaults on prison staff last year despite recent declines in the population of incarcerated people, Hawley noted.

“New York has seen historic increases of violence for both inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-officer populations,” states the letter from the legislators.

The letter is signed by Assemblyman Matthew Simpson (114th District), Senator Jake Ashby (43rd District), Sen. James Tedisco (44th), Sen. Mark Walczyk (49th), Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano (3rd), Assemblyman Michael Durso (9th), Assemblyman John Mikulin (17th), Assemblyman Matthew Slater (94th), Assemblyman Chris Tague (102nd), Assemblyman Scott Gray (116th), Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (117th), Assemblyman Robert Smullen (118th), Assemblyman Joseph Angelino (121st), Assemblyman Brian Miller (122nd), Assemblyman John Lemondes (126th), Assemblyman Brian Manktelow (130th) and Assemblyman Steve Hawley (139th).

“1,760 violent incidents against prison staff in a single year is not just an outlier, it’s a trend brought about by Gov. Hochul and her friends in the Majority who rewarded criminal behavior through radical policies such as the HALT Act,” Hawley said in a news release. “Since day one I’ve been firmly against these initiatives. I’ve seen the pain correctional officers and their families go through every day and it’s past time we say enough is enough. The governor needs to get her priorities straight. Our state’s safety depends on it.”