Morello says while the DOC made its desires clear to the board, "[The board] didn't go along with everything." Simmons, the board chairperson, denies the report's ultimate shape is a foregone conclusion. "We are very open to whatever suggestions and comments there are. The deliberations are not over; they have just begun," she says. "You can't write a document with a million people in the room. In order to get a response, you have to have something out there."
That response is already being heard. A City Council committee plans a hearing on the new rules, either later this month or in April. The Corrections Officers’ Benevolent Association, the union representing prison guards, has filed comments opposing the weakened overcrowding standards as “unsafe,” and expressing concern that reduced Spanish translation will lead to frustrated prisoners and more danger for jail officers. John Horan, a former vice-chair of the board who was involved in writing the standards in 1978, says he objects to the general thrust of the proposals, which entail transforming temporary variances into permanent regulations for the DOC. "The variance procedure has worked well under several commissioners," says Horan, who served on the board until late 2005. "It allows the board to keep an active check on how things are working."
Legal Aid, the Fortune Society, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Fordham Law Prisoners' Rights Advocates, the Urban Justice Center, and staff at the Innocence Project are involved in discussions over how to respond to the board’s proposals – a response that could involve anything from negotiation with the DOC over improving some of the proposals to outright opposition.
Other groups, like the New York Civil Liberties Union, Women’s Prison Association and Osborne Association, are also tracking the issue. Elizabeth Gaynes, Osborne’s executive director, says the proposals are a mixed bag: She is pleased there are no additional restrictions on visitation, but concerned about the possible increase in 23-hour lock-ins.
Simmons hopes to approve a final version at the board's June meeting.
Comments on the Board of Correction’s proposal must be submitted on or before May 21, 2007, to Richard T. Wolf, Executive Director of the New York City Board of Correction, Room 923, 51 Chamber Street, New York, NY 10007. The April 17 public hearing is at 9:30 a.m. at the City Planning Commission hearing room, 22 Reade Street, 1st floor. People who plan to testify are asked to notify Wolf at the above address.
