- The Correctional Association of New York released its report on conditions at Coxsackie Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley.
- Prison officials say they comply with industry standards for ventilation and temperatures are “appropriate to the summer.”
- Other prisons across New York have been cited for extreme temperatures.
People incarcerated at a Hudson Valley prison last year complained about dangerous summer temperatures with little respite inside cells, a state monitor said.
Between July 20 and 21, Coxsackie Correctional Facility, a men’s prison located about 25 miles south of Albany, experienced temperatures above 90 degrees with high humidity. Nearby weather readings categorized the heat index at the time — or how hot it felt outside — as “extreme danger,” based on National Weather Service thresholds.
During that time, nearly 100 people incarcerated spoke with the Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a nonprofit with oversight authority under state law to monitor prisons.
This month, CANY issued its report on the two-day visit to Coxsackie, finding that incarcerated individuals were locked in cells with no cross ventilation in humid conditions, according to their firsthand accounts.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), the state agency responsible for the state’s prison system, said Coxsackie’s temperatures are “appropriate to the summer and winter comfort zones.”
“The way DOCCS responds is that they literally say the temperatures are appropriate. We’re telling you that they’re not,” Jennifer Scaife, CANY’s executive director who conducted interviews at Coxsackie, told the USA TODAY Network New York. “It’s this ’emperor has no clothes’ kind of moment.”
Extreme heat has been an issue in state prisons that often have aging infrastructure, as USA TODAY Network has reported, based on interviews with currently and formerly incarcerated people. Observers say temperatures will worsen with the effects of climate…
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