The Nation Magazine contributor Victoria Law joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed her recent article, “These Labor Unions Are Fighting to Keep Solitary Confinement,” which explores the objections of correction officers’ unions to new restrictions on solitary confinement in New York state prisons.
Law is also the author of “‘Prisons Make Us Safer’: And 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration.”
Last year, the New York state legislature passed the Humane Alternatives to Long Term Solitary Confinement, or HALT Act, which caps the amount of time an inmate in New York's prisons or jails can be held in segregated confinement housing to 15 days, or 20 days over a two-month period, she noted.
However, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) petitioned a federal court to overturn the law, arguing it removed consequences, and is leading to an increase in violence. A judge dismissed the challenge in June, stating the unions’ claims strained credulity.
Law believes the legislation did not actually lead to an increase in violence. Instead, she argued the unions are pushing against solitary confinement restrictions to avoid job cuts in the face of a dwindling prison population.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about the issue of solitary confinement in New York state prisons.