New York state prisons violate solitary confinement rules, judge says [Video]

NEW YORK — New York’s state prison system has been holding inmates in solitary confinement for too long, in violation of state law, a state judge ruled this week.

State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant said in a decision filed Thursday that the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision did not provide sufficient evidence to refute allegations that it has failed to follow the limits on solitary confinement enshrined in state law in 2021.

“DOCCS has the responsibility to submit an administrative record that supports their actions and they have failed to meet this burden,” he wrote.

“No one is above the law — that includes prison officials,” the NYCLU said in a statement posted Thursday on the social platform X. “We’ll be watching closely to ensure DOCCS starts complying with …