NEW YORK NOW – A union representing correction officers in New York filed a federal lawsuit Monday to overturn the Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement Act, or HALT, a new law passed in March to limit the use of solitary confinement in state prisons.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, or NYSCOPBA, claimed in the suit that the new law violates the federal civil rights of its members.
NYSCOPBA President Mike Powers speaks to reporters in Albany on Monday, May 10, 2021. Credit: New York NOW
The lawsuit is hinged on the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which the union argues should guarantee public employees, like their members, due process to be free from dangerous conditions created by the state.