A North Country Assemblyman is calling for the repeal of the HALT Act following the deaths of three inmates at North Country correctional facilities last week.
New York State Police and other law enforcement agencies are investigating deaths at the Upstate Correctional facility in Malone, the Gouverneur Correctional Facility and the Riverview Correctional Facility in Ogdensburg. All are potential homicides involving other inmates.
Assemblyman Matt Simpson, a 114th district Republican, says the deaths show that “while the HALT Act was passed with the noble intention of protecting incarcerated individuals, it has instead created an environment of unchecked violence.”
The HALT Act, which went into effect in 2022, places limits on the use of solitary confinement.
Simpson, who wants to repeal the law, says the HALT Act restricts the ability to deal with dangerous inmates.
