A study of Marcy Correctional Facility is under the spotlight following the release of body camera footage that shows the beating of Robert Brooks, an inmate who died Dec. 10, a day after the footage was recorded.

“People are not sentenced to prison for punishment, meaning extrajudicial mistreatment, neglect, abuse," said Jennifer Scaife, the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York (CANY), which visits state prisons to observe and monitor operations that function behind closed doors.

It then issues findings and recommendations.

“We speak with people who live and work in these facilities every day, and we walk away and form impressions based on what we hear and what we see," Scaife said.

CANY visited Marcy Correctional Facility in 2022.

Its report lists numerous issues ranging from claims of inadequate temperature controls to missing items and denials of packages, to people in security housing units not having access to the required minimum of four hours of out-of-cell programming and recreation opportunities.

Regarding the staff, complaints were made of “rampant abuse” by staff, racialized abuse and fears of retaliation.

The report also notes that a mental health unit “seemed to be operating outside of HALT guidelines. Concerns included a lack of congregate recreation, insufficient out of cell time, insufficient group programming and activities, and the shackling of incarcerated individuals during programs.” 

HALT is the Humane Alternative to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act.

“We ask questions about all of the services and treatment that people could expect to receive while in prison. And Marcy scores low among almost all of those areas. And in some cases, scored the lowest in terms of people's negative experiences accessing basic necessities and things that they are entitled to," said Scaife.

CANY issued recommendations to DOCCS after the 2022 investigation.

DOCCS said it values the association’s insight from the 2022 report and have addressed, or are in the process of addressing, the majority of the recommendations.

Investigations were opened and millions of dollars were spent on cameras, including those that recorded the fatal beating of Robert Brooks.

While the report focuses on Marcy, researchers suggest the issues may be more widespread.

“Groups of security officers who are involved, assaults that happen with no other witnesses, no other incarcerated people witnessing in medical exam rooms. We hear these kinds of allegations almost routinely. And so I think that it's not a problem that is limited to Marcy," Scaife said.