By Joe LoTemplio
Press-Republican
PLATTSBURGH — North Country lawmakers are hoping that State Legislature hearings on the prison system, in the wake of the escape of two murderers, will yield critical changes.
“These hearings hopefully will shed some light on what goes right inside these prisons as well as what problems there are and how we can come out with a better, more successful system,” State Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) told the Press-Republican.
AFTER IG PROBE
The hearings will be held after the State Inspector General’s Office completes its investigation into the June 6 escape of inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat from Clinton Correctional Facility.
The fugitives were on the run until Matt, 49, was shot and killed on June 26 in Malone and Sweat, 35, was shot and captured two days later in Constable.
They cut holes in their cell walls and made their way down a catwalk and through pipes, eventually surfacing out a manhole in the shadow of the maximum-security facility.
The Inspector General’s Office has been investigating the escape and conditions at the prison since mid June.
EMPLOYEE ACTION
Civilian employee Joyce Mitchell admitted to bringing tools into the prison for the inmates, pleading guilty on July 28.
Correction Officer Gene Palmer has also been arrested, charged on June 24 with tampering with evidence and promoting prison contraband, both felonies, and misdemeanor official misconduct.
He is not charged with aiding in the escape, though he is charged in connection with Matt and Sweat. Palmer has rejected a plea offer, and his case will go before a grand jury, Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie has said.
Twelve Clinton Correctional employees, including Superintendent Steve Racette, were put on administrative leave. Racette then retired, effective July 31.
LOCAL HEARING
Little said the Senate Committee on Corrections, of which she is a member, and the Senate Committee on Investigations will hold hearings, likely in concert with the Assembly Committee on Crime and Corrections.
Those sessions will be held across the state, and the committees will look into all aspects of the prison system, as well as the escape.
Little said she has requested that at least one hearing be held in the North Country.
The committees will work off the inspector general’s report, which may not be completed until the fall.
INSIDE THE SYSTEM
The State Legislature committees will have subpoena power to call witnesses if they have to.
“We’ve seen a lot of changes in the prison system with closures and budget constraints, and we will have to look at that, and we want to look at the correction officers and what kind of work situation they are in,” Little said.
“We might know up here, but a lot of people have no idea what goes on inside a prison. It’s a very difficult job.”
Little said she hopes all the investigations can be completed by the end of the year so changes can be made legislatively, if needed, beginning next January when legislators start their 2016 session.
FOCUS ON SAFETY
Assemblywoman Janet Duprey (R-Peru), who is a member of the Crime and Corrections Committee, said she believes a lot of changes can be made administratively at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
“A lot of what went wrong was administrative, so I think it can be fixed that way, too,” she said.
Duprey said she believes that, overall, the prison system runs efficiently, but improvements can be made.
“We need to hire good superintendents and give them the authority to run the jails under circumstances that they feel are necessary,” she said.
“The main focus will and should be on the safety and security for everyone in there.”