NY FOCUS: State Legislative Leaders Pass Last-Minute Prison Oversight Package

The bill package will now head to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk, and she could either sign, veto, or scale it back through amendments to the legislation.Amid one of the most chaotic years for New York’s prison system in recent memory, the state legislature passed a limited omnibus prison reform bill Thursday night, hours before one of its chambers closed out its lawmaking for the year.The bill is the legislature’s response to the state prison agency’s mounting scandals. In December, body-worn cameras captured corrections officers taking turns beating a handcuffed incarcerated man named Robert Brooks, who died hours later. The killing sparked nationwide outcry and served as a backdrop for months of tumultuous events that followed, including a three-week corrections officers strike, another alleged killing at the hands of prison guards, and two contentious legislative hearings.