New York is positioned as the first state in the nation to require judges serving in criminal and family court to visit a jail, prison, or detention center once a year.
The Unified Court System says this change is to help judges have a greater perspective into conditions in these facilities and to promote stronger communication, including with those imprisoned.
The change, which will take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2028, is part of the New York State Unified Court System’s amendments to Part 17 of the Rules of the Chief Judge.
“I don’t know why it took so long,” said Tina Luongo, the chief attorney of criminal defense practice for the Legal Aid Society.
They say it’s important for a judge to see first-hand what a facility’s conditions are when a judge holds the power to set bail or remand a person.
“It’s all about context, right? What the judge doesn’t see is the conditions of confinement that incarcerated people suffer,” said Luongo. “They don’t see it in the pretrial context, so when a judge sets bail they don’t have line of sight to what the conditions are that this person is about to see.”
According to the Unified Court System, under the new Part 17, judicial visits will “include opportunities for meaningful time in key areas such as intake, housing, work education, recreation, visitation, dining, and medical and mental health facilities.”
Judges will also have “an opportunity to meet with incarcerated individuals, employees, administrators and service providers.”
An advisory task force will be formed to bring judges, judicial associations, court administrations, correctional and detention facility representatives and other relevant experts together and will include a new judicial orientation and education program.
“Change happens when you have intentional strong leaders making this push,” said Luongo. “We have a chief judge in New York state, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, who makes it a point for himself to go and visit people upstate who are incarcerated.”
“This rule keeps judges better connected to what transpires after sentencing. It deepens a judge’s firsthand understanding of prison conditions and the broad impact of incarceration on individuals, families, and communities, as well as the opportunities available during incarceration,” said Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson. “The revised rule embodies the principle that judges are not distant arbiters but engaged stewards of justice, whose thoughtful determinations are grounded in reality. By doing so, it promotes confidence in the judiciary, not merely in those who are incarcerated or their families, but also in the public at large. Justice may be depicted as blind but should not blind itself to reality.”
The visits will rotate among facility types including youth and women’s facilities, state prisons and local jails.