Testimony to the NYC Board of Correction regarding Proposed Enhanced Supervision Housing Rules

SUMMARY

The Committee on Corrections and Community Re-entry presented testimony before the NYC Board of Correction concerning (i) the proposed rules of the Board in response to the request by the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) to create “enhanced supervision housing” (“ESH”) units and (ii) the decision of the Board to delay any further action to promulgate rules concerning additional limitations on the use of segregated confinement in the New York City jails. The Committee appreciated DOC’s plans to limit the use of prolonged isolation in punitive segregation but is concerned that these ESH rules – if passed – will enable permanent reductions in the protections afforded to incarcerated people that will persist beyond the current initiatives and the present administration. The Committee therefore urged that the Board delay a decision on the current proposed rules and require the Department to adopt a number of modifications recommended by the Committee. The Committee also urged the Board to reconstitute its solitary confinement committee and – working with the Department, people in the community, and its experts – to continue its efforts to develop and implement comprehensive reforms to its Minimum Standards so as to limit the use and consequent harm of long-term isolation.