Thousands Of NY Inmates Wrongly Punished Over Faulty Drug Testing, Report Finds

A report by the New York State Inspector General released Thursday, Nov. 30, found that over 2,000 inmates were wrongly punished between 2016 and 2020 due to defects in both the manufacturing and administration of drug tests.

The tests, made by Sirchie Finger Print Laboratories, were used by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to detect drugs in prison contraband.

• Click here to read the full report by the New York State Inspector General

Despite manufacturer instructions that the test was designed to serve merely as a presumptive test requiring laboratory confirmation, prison staff used a positive result on an unconfirmed test as a basis to punish inmates, the report found.

In August 2020, DOCCS officials notified the Inspector General that the test had inconsistent instructions, potentially leading to false-positive results.

Five days later, the Inspector General’s office advised prison officials to stop disciplining inmates for positive tests until the results could be confirmed by an independent laboratory.

DOCCS officials immediately complied and began reversing and expunging the disciplinary records of inmates who had been punished over such tests.

The Inspector General’s investigation found that the instructions on the drug tests were inconsistent, contradictory and, in some cases, inaccurate.

Sirchie Finger Print Laboratories also failed to identify the issues or notify DOCCS officials about revised or updated instructions, the report found.

The investigation also concluded that prison staff administering the tests failed to follow protocols meant to prevent misidentification of contraband or cross-contamination of samples, undermining the accuracy of even the preliminary results.

In addition to the aforementioned punishments, affected inmates were also stripped of privileges like receiving packages, accessing commissary, and using the phone.

“Lack of integrity in the systems administered to New Yorkers behind bars implicates all of us,” said New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang. 

“This investigation and the subsequent policy changes and record expungements represent one step closer to ensuring the level of integrity we should all expect and demand from the state.”

Besides contraband testing, DOCCS regularly tests inmates’ urine for the presence of consumed drugs. 

Officials also screen prison staff and visitors, limit homemade packages sent to inmates, and use drug-identifying dogs.

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