New York Inspector General Finds Significant Racial Disparities In Westchester County Prisons

A new report from the New York Inspector General has revealed that minority prisoners are often treated differently than White prisoners in the state's prisons.

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.
Photo Credit: *Google Maps street view*

Ben Crnic

01/09/2023 7:00 a.m.

The report titled "Racial Disparities in the Administration of Discipline in New York State Prisons," contains data supporting the fact that minority prisoners were more likely to be issued "misbehavior reports" than White prisoners during the six-year period that was examined.

According to the report, a Black prisoner was nearly 22 percent more likely to be issued a misbehavior report than a White prisoner, while a Hispanic prisoner was 12 percent more likely.

Additionally, prisoners categorized as "Other" were nine percent more likely to be issued a misbehavior report, the report said.

The findings also revealed that of Department of Corrections and Community Supervision employees who issued 50 or more misbehavior reports to prisoners, 226 employees only issued them to non-White prisoners, and 114 employees issued them only to Black or Hispanic prisoners, according to the report.

The racial disparities also increased over time, increasing slightly between 2017 and 2019, and increasing significantly in 2020, when Black and Hispanic prisoners were nearly 38 percent and 29 percent more likely than White prisoners to have been issued a Misbehavior Report, respectively, the report said.

Victor Pate, Co-Director of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, and Jose Saldana, Director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, issued a joint statement on the report's findings.

"This report further reveals the state prisons for what they are: a system of rampant and overt racist repression," they said, adding, "The need for action by the executive and legislative authorities is clear."

The report included findings from prisons across the state, including:

Bedford Hills, Taconic, and Sing Prisons in Westchester County;
Downstate, Fishkill, and Green Haven Prisons in Dutchess County;
Coxsackie and Greene Prisons in Greene County;
Eastern, Shawangunk, Ulster, and Wallkill Prisons in Ulster County;
Woodbourne and Sullivan Prisons in Sullivan County.

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