As New York Focus's justice bureau chief, Chris Gelardi reports and edits work on the state's criminal-legal and immigration systems. His writing on cops, jails, ICE, and the US military has appeared in more than a dozen other outlets, most frequently The Intercept and The Nation, and his award-winning investigations into prison conditions and police surveillance have spurred lawsuits and legislation. He's based in Queens.
It’s unclear whether the Correctional Association of New York will have to scale back its nascent reform initiatives.
The governor has yet to nominate heads of the State Commission of Correction, which now lacks a quorum.
A federally mandated child welfare oversight body has called on the Office of Children and Family Services to curtail facilities’ use of isolation and increase transparency.
The bill follows reporting from New York Focus and other news outlets on prison staff mistaking menstrual and contraceptive products for hidden contraband.
Amid a crisis in the state’s prison system, the governor’s and legislature’s budget proposals differ, but largely lack major reforms.
The state rescinded its request to dismiss a sexual abuse lawsuit after a judge became aware of New York Focus’s findings.
Last year, after prison guards were caught beating an incarcerated man to death, Governor Hochul allocated millions to a prison oversight body. This year, she doesn’t want to renew the grant.
A hearing Thursday gives lawmakers an opportunity to grill police and prison leaders.
Will this week’s budget hearing provide insight into the state’s plan to salvage its safety net?
A yearslong staffing crisis at state-run facilities has taken its toll on incarcerated kids and the workers who watch over them.
On criminal justice, there were notable omissions in the governor’s address.
Office of Children and Family Services facilities keep youth in small cells for days or weeks at a time, violating state regulations, the suit claims.
The state plans to ask a court to dismiss some 500 prison sexual assault lawsuits for not strictly abiding by filing requirements.
The murder has led to more tumult than New York’s prison system has seen since the Attica prison uprising over five decades ago.
Guards demanded body scanners to cut down on contraband. Now they’re turning visitors away over their hygiene and medical supplies.
Prison officials are using a novel legal reading to argue that the HALT Solitary Confinement Act doesn’t apply to units where most people are incarcerated.
Many incarcerated New Yorkers say the new normal is endless lock-in.
Jails and prisons across the state are facing many crises. Someone should tell the Commission of Correction.
After a strike led state prisons to stop accepting new prisoners, local jails have been left holding thousands of extra people.
New York’s bail reform law didn’t eliminate cash bail and hasn’t led to increased crime or recidivism. The Trump administration is still targeting it.