New York Correctional Officers March On State Capitol In Albany

As the saga between New York State Correctional Officers and the governmental leaders in the Empire State continues to drag on, another chapter in this dispute is occurring as hundreds of prison guards and their supporters start a protest at the State Capitol building in Albany, New York.

It was just a few days ago when New York State started the process of dismissing Correctional Officers who abandoned their jobs to participate in an illegal strike. According to New York State's Public Employees' Fair Employment Act, which is commonly known as the Taylor Law, public government officers like Prison Guards, Teachers, and Police are legally required not to strike. Even after the state Supreme Court ordered the COs to return to work and an independent mediator reached an agreement with the NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) to facilitate the Correctional Officers return to work, still many have refused.

Those prison guards who have continued to strike demand that the state repeal the HALT Act and state they will not return to work until that happens. The Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act changed the way inmates and prisoners are held in solitary confinement in New York's prisons, along with preventing people under the age of 21, older than 55, those with disabilities, and pregnant women from being held in solitary.

Striking Correctional Officers claim the HALT Act prevents them from properly disciplining prisoners, and this has created an environment they cannot work in anymore.

As protests continue at prisons all over the state, hundreds of guards have now taken thier proest to the steps of the New York State Capitol building in Albany.

This is a developing story, and we'll share more information as it becomes available.