Over 130 groups have signed on to a letter shared with City & State to state leaders urging an expansive use of clemency to help reduce the state’s prison population amid concerns about the safety of incarcerated people after a number of high-profile deaths.

The already tenuous situation in state prisons, which tend to be chronically understaffed, came to a head late last year following the beating death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correction Facility at the hands of guards. Prison guards were accused of beating another inmate at Mid State Correctional Facility to death earlier this year, shortly before a statewide wildcat strike by corrections officers.

The letter cites Brooks’ death and the ongoing suspension of key provisions of a state law meant to ban the use of solitary confinement

See Full Page