![A collage of book covers, including Richard Wright's Native Son](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/ovvcH1h3w-7irUt9mFtOd6oxOu2vyY01aUIau5n_moE/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9iYW5uZWRfYm9va3NfY29sbGFnZS5qcGc.jpg)
As book banning sparks outrage in schools and libraries, the censorship of classics like Native Son persists in New York prisons.
![Governor Kathy Hochul stands with a hand on her hip next to a New York state trooper on a cloudy day.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/Hd56SpSwasl5301XR63-XofRpXWCG0t85lXN5eLs58Y/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9ob2NodWwtdHJvb3Blci1uaWFnYXJhLmpwZw.jpg)
This year, the governor’s budget contains an agenda to combat retail theft. It looks a lot like last year’s plan to curb gun violence.
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One hundred and fifteen laws that almost were.
![The back of an open prison transport van](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/j53I_SQkU4Wm5jETVqiRnITBMzZXp8dPo2OAi5EgIKk/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy90cmFuc3BvcnQudmFuLmpwZw.jpg)
New York jails can transfer people with mental illnesses to maximum security prisons, even while they’re legally innocent.
![Attica Correctional facility exterior in grayscale, with bright TV static behind.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/cTPNJMUyn_VHRDa6ApvlCwbQAnoUG2bRz5EH4IAnVrQ/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9hdHRpY2FzdGF0aWNhLmpwZw.jpg)
The State Commission of Correction has been stumbling for decades — with millions of incarcerated people caught in the lurch.
![A jail cell with keys in the lock seen through a dirty window.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/WH2iu6lgtJtGSpoqo0ut2Om3Y3ePxFuQvlYKhVproVI/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9wYXJvbGUuanBn.jpg)
In New York, many incarcerated people don’t know how to secure their freedom. A court fight could clear up the lethally opaque process.
![Correctional officers are being blocked from a door of a prison on the left side of an illustration. They walk around the corner, removing their uniforms, only to be welcomed back to a door on the right side of the prison. Their uniforms are returned to them in the process.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/FJclU1yu7wfnjqb46rn788a8z4TFZThJT_ff52Lx_YA/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9NYXJzaGFsbC1Qcm9qZWN0LVByaXNvbi1HdWFyZC1GaW5hbC5qcGc.jpg)
Over a 12-year span, three out of every four state correctional officers fired for abuse or covering it up got their jobs back.
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Can an oversight group be in the same union as the police it monitors?
![New NYPD officers smile amid blue and white confetti at police academy graduation ceremony.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/KF0-4coPoPVPSCzJSlBvONak5Fj_HZWW0ba_SY9TxW0/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9wb2xpY2VhY2FkZW15Z3JhZC5qcGc.jpg)
Police training materials link the discredited “excited delirium syndrome” to synthetic marijuana use.
![State Senator Julia Salazar speaks at a podium.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/At5_Oa4qm5kFXvw5eOmJTkWptK3Km1kUYq03zCmfD3A/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9zYWxhemFyLTMuMi4yMi5qcGc.jpg)
The legislation cites multiple New York Focus investigations in its attempt to safeguard the rights of incarcerated people.
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The state council that reviews grievances spent an average of eight seconds on each case in its last meeting — and rejected nearly all of them.
![Court of Appeals judges stand and clap for Caitlin Halligan](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/RrtjSiqWOOIsOVIu0grcVNhFg5WyWy_wqO-9trNhjO0/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9oYWxsaWdhbi1zd2VhcmluZy1pbi42LjcuMjMuanBn.jpg)
The rulings shed light on the leanings of Caitlin Halligan, the court’s newest judge and frequent tie-breaker.
![Chief Judge Rowan Wilson sits on the Court of Appeals bench.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/vSvo9WsOmADMIqDI3DOWawk_gXtKv1kX_plqNdCBEcI/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9yb3dhbi13aWxzb24tOS4xMi4yMy5qcGc.jpg)
While the United States Supreme Court seeks to restrict the government’s ability to regulate, the New York Court of Appeals is broadening it.
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New York imposes strict regulations on “segregated confinement.” What if it’s just called “confinement”?
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The prison department doesn’t track overdose deaths in its custody. A New York Focus analysis found that the overdose death rate has tripled.
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/hj6TKRSfhdtdnGVche6p9L6M7iErlt7gMDWFGHfU8ng/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5143:0.8107/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9nZWxhcmRpLXBhcm9sZS1mdHIuanBn.jpg)
New York has kept hundreds of people convicted of sex offenses in prison long past their release dates.
![NYPD Vans in front of the New York County Surrogate's Court at 31 Chambers Street.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/9SMA2hs__qzMH6PC6HG58hCZyeBXNABlTJQN2xQDU_M/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy8xMzU2OTQxNDY0NV9iM2QwMTgyZmEwXzVrLmpwZw.jpg)
The state’s top court will settle disputes between Rochester, Syracuse, New York City, and their police unions next week in three cases that could reshape police discipline across the state.
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The Sheriffs’ Association lobbied against a bill to provide medication for opioid addiction in jails. Since it passed, they’ve failed to evaluate thousands of people for treatment.
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Acting Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio has faced formal complaints for berating and threatening lawyers in more than a dozen incidents.
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A surprise plan to shutter a jail in Syracuse’s Onondaga County spurred a chaotic political skirmish — and left local incarcerated people in the lurch.