Cardozo School of Law congratulates Derrick Hamilton, Deputy Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice (PCLJ), and his fellow criminal justice reform advocates on their instrumental efforts in advancing the passage of New York State’s Prison Justice Omnibus Package (A8871/S8415), signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on December 19. The legislation represents a major step toward increasing transparency, oversight, and accountability within the state’s correctional facilities. Key provisions include expanded camera surveillance, timely notification of deaths to family members, and strengthened mechanisms for holding correctional staff accountable for misconduct.
Hamilton has tirelessly championed these reforms and has played an active role in the End Prison Violence (EPV) campaign, which was launched by several organizations, including PCLJ, in direct response to the brutal murder of Robert Brooks by New York State Corrections staff. The EPV campaign spearheaded the development of a set of legislative demands to end prison violence, five of which were enacted in this package.
“We applaud Governor Hochul for taking this important step toward reforming New York’s prisons. These measures respond to urgent, long-standing issues, but our work is far from finished,” said Derrick Hamilton, Deputy Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law & Founder of Families and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted. “Real change requires continued vigilance and advocacy to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and to end the epidemic of violence within New York’s prisons.”
Hamilton’s and the EPV campaign’s efforts underscore the significant impact that persistent advocacy can have in effecting meaningful, systematic change in New York’s prisons.