Hochul May Deploy National Guard as Wildcat Strikes Hit 25 N.Y. Prisons
The New York Times
Corrections officers, without their union’s approval, refused to show up for work to protest what they say are hazardous conditions and severe staff shortages.
Gov. Kathy Hochul threatened on Tuesday to use the National Guard to ensure the safety of New York’s prisons after wildcat strikes by corrections officers spread to more than half of the state’s 42 penitentiaries.
The threat was a response to labor actions that began on Monday with officers assigned to two upstate prisons refusing to come to work to protest staff shortages and other conditions. By Tuesday, strikes had emerged at 25 prisons, state officials said.
The officers’ union said it had not authorized the job actions, and Ms. Hochul, calling them “illegal and unlawful,” said she was considering forcing the officers back to work by invoking a state law that prohibits most public employees in New York from going out on strike.
“We will not allow these individuals to jeopardize the safety of their colleagues, incarcerated people and the residents of communities surrounding our correctional facilities,” the governor said in a statement.
The strikes, the first widespread work stoppage in New York’s prisons since a 16-day walkout by officers in 1979, come as the state correctional system faces close scrutiny stemming from the fatal beating of a 43-year-old inmate by officers in December.
Criminal charges are likely to be announced on Thursday against at least some of the officers and other corrections department employees whom state officials have implicated in the killing of the man, Robert Brooks, at Marcy Correctional Facility near Utica.
The S.S. United States, the largest passenger ship ever built in America, left Philadelphia under tow on Wednesday, eventually to be sunk off the Gulf Coast.
Dale Ho, who will decide whether the Justice Department can drop corruption charges against Eric Adams, argued successfully against Trump policy in a 2019 Supreme Court case.
The cuts affected five probationary employees, a relative said. The Trump administration has targeted such workers for firing across the federal government.
Corrections officers, without their union’s approval, refused to show up for work to protest what they say are hazardous conditions and severe staff shortages.
Mr. Peltier was convicted in the killing of two F.B.I. agents. An order from former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will allow him to serve his remaining time under home confinement.
The covert program, begun during the Biden administration and stepped up by President Trump, is hunting for the location of fentanyl labs.
Representative Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, is contemplating running for governor next year. Beth Davidson, a Democrat, hopes to win his swing seat in the Hudson Valley.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights warned that it would penalize schools that consider race in scholarships, hiring and an array of other activities.
Storms have overwhelmed the state in recent years. On top of the floods, snow is expected soon.
As Judge Dale E. Ho considers the Justice Department’s request to stop the corruption case against New York’s mayor, former U.S. attorneys are asking him to investigate.
In his first month in office, the president has carried out a campaign of retribution that has little analogue in history.
Fire engine manufacturing is now largely controlled by three companies. Around the country, prices have soared, and orders can take years to fulfill.