Editorial: New York's prisons since Attica
Inmates of Attica state prison in upstate New York raise their fists to show solidarity in their demands during a negotiation session with state prisons Commissioner Russell Oswald (Sept. 10, 1971). Credit: AP
For those who remember Attica, it is a horror. For many young Americans, it evokes a blank stare. But the 40th anniversary of the bloody prison uprising near Buffalo demands remembering.
It ended on Sept. 13, 1971, with an assault by state troopers that killed 29 inmates and 10 hostages. We're still grappling with issues at the heart of the searing event that first raised to the nation's awareness the question of how we manage those we incarcerate.
In the years after the deadly siege, the state's prison population soared. At the end of 1971, during the term of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller, the count was 12,525 inmates. By the time Gov. Mario M. Cuomo took office in 1983, it had more than doubled, to 28,499. Early in his term, Cuomo closed a recently opened Long Island prison in Brentwood, but he led in the construction of others. When he left office at the end of 1994, the count stood at 66,750. It reached a peak of 71,472 under Gov. George Pataki at the end of 1999.
Now, with roughly 57,000 in a system that can hold many thousands more, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants to close seven prisons. His main obstacle is economic: Prisons mean jobs. But Cuomo said in January: "Don't put other people in prison to give some people jobs." He's off to a good start, but many fundamental prison issues still need resolution.
One factor in the uprising was the clash between an all-white guard force and a largely black and Hispanic inmate population. Prison authorities lost in court an effort to weed out Ku Klux Klan members among guards. And the Correctional Association of New York, a private group that by law has access to inspect prisons, still gets reports from inmates of guards wearing tattoos showing lynched black men.
Much of the growth in population resulted from the Rockefeller drug laws, named for the governor who presided over the Attica assault and later pushed for mandatory imprisonment for drug dealers. There's been a reform of those laws, but mandatory minimum sentences for a variety of crimes remain in effect. They need to be examined for possible reform as well.
Then there are mentally ill inmates. In the 1970s, the state moved thousands of patients from huge state facilities such as Pilgrim, Kings Park and Central Islip, into the community. The goal was to get people out of those huge warehouses, but the execution was execrable. Too many wandered the streets of communities such as Bay Shore. Many broke the law and ended up in prison. What started as deinstitutionalization became transinstitutionalization: from hospitals into prisons poorly equipped to handle the mentally ill. Those inmates, along with autistic ones, still end up in solitary confinement. That has to stop.
Mario Cuomo successfully managed a prison uprising days after his inauguration in 1983. Andrew Cuomo witnessed those incredibly tense moments. To avoid any revolt on his watch, he needs to pay attention to what's happening in the prisons. And as he manages prison closings, he should look at maximum-security facilities and determine if there's enough slack in the system to close one. A powerful symbol to counteract the shame of Attica would be to knock that prison down. hN
