Jails
Prisoners within a year of their release dates can shave months off their sentence.
In his first week in office, Bragg issued a memo to staff telling them to stop prosecuting crimes such as trespassing, traffic violations, resisting arrest and prostitution.
Demonstrators protested outside all five criminal courthouses across New York City, calling on judges to reduce the number of people they send to jail.
At a city council hearing on Wednesday, correctional medical officials sounded the alarm about an uptick in coronavirus infections at New York City jails.
Hochul’s promise comes on the heels of three fatalities at Rikers Island since August.
Self-harm — including suicides — at Rikers Island and other local lockups spiked last summer as COVID-19 ravaged New York, figures obtained by WNYC/Gothamist and THE CITY show. The rate’s climbed to historic levels in the months since.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision says the stoppage was caused by the pause on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Spokesperson Thomas Mailey didn’t say when the process would begin.
The coronavirus has killed 12 state inmates and infected another 3,000 since the start of the vaccine rollout.
"Although the decrease in the population was extremely positive on the macro-level, it did little to change the conditions of the confinement in the jails—the use of force rate remains unacceptably high," a new report says.
Another jail at Rikers Island will also close as part of consolidation plan.