With the search for two murderers who escaped from Clinton Correctional facility continuing for a second week, some New York state lawmakers are questioning some of the procedures and policies at the prison.
Assemblyman Jim Tedisco and many of his colleagues unveiled new legislation at the capitol in Albany Tuesday. The “Prisoner Privileges Limitation Law” is crafted to help prevent incidents like what happened two weekends ago.
David Sweat and Richard Matt, both murderers, lived on the “honor block” at the Clinton Correctional Facility as a reward for “good behavior.” The “Dannemora Duo” (as Tedisco and company refer to the prisoners) were allowed to wear regular clothing in addition to their prison attire and worked with civilians at the prison’s tailor shop where they befriended Joyce Mitchell, who police say helped the killers escape from the maximum security prison.
Assemblyman Tedisco, a Glenville Republican, says the bill seeks to prevent the worst-of-the-worst violent convicts from having unfettered access to civilians at prisons and being able to wear civilian clothing. “We don't believe anybody at this level of violent crime, and classified this level as violent felony, should ever have the opportunity, the availability, or be able to wear a civilian portion of clothes. Because they not only were able to wear those clothes, have access to civilian clothes, but they used those civilian clothes to illustrate that their bodies were still in the bunks, which probably helped, as the guards went by, not to realize that they were gone already and missing, and they were released and escaped into the public wearing those civilian clothes, and we think potentially, because of that, were able to assimilate and blend in with the community in the surrounding area.”
The legislation would take away a portion of the good behavior rewards program only for criminals convicted of the most serious violent crimes such as murder and rape. Karen Murtagh, Executive Director of Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, says the measure is flawed. “It's not just a bill that says prisoners can't wear civilian clothes. It also says that no prisoner convicted of certain crimes can participate in any type of work release whatsoever, regardless of their prison disciplinary hearing, regardless of anything. It's just a blanket prohibition of allowing those people to participate in work release. So I think when you have a bill that creates an across-the-board ban like that, it's a short-sighted bill, it's not supported by our statistical data, and I would and prisoners legal services would say that it would be very ill-advised to pass a bill like that.”
Tedisco says the bill is being reviewed by Daniel O'Donnell, the head of the corrections committee in the Assembly. Senator Patrick Gallivan, the former sheriff of Erie County, the majority member of Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections, sponsored the bill. “We’re way behind on a lot of important issues but none of those issues rises to the level of the safety and protection of our constituents across the state. If there’s ever a priority we should get done it’s probably this piece of legislation.”
With just one full day remaining in the session, Tedisco labels it "PRIORITY." His proposal followsanother offered by Capital Region Republican Senator Kathy Marchione, which advocates using microchips placed under the skin of certain inmates to render them "trackable" at all times.
