{"id":2553,"date":"2025-10-14T23:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T23:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2553\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T23:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T23:14:11","slug":"nyc-jail-oversight-board-rebukes-correction-department-for-stonewalling-records-requests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2553\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC jail oversight board rebukes Correction Department for stonewalling records requests"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city Board of Correction passed a resolution Tuesday sharply criticizing the Correction Department for stonewalling its information requests and obstructing the board\u2019s oversight role under the city Charter.<\/p>\n

The board<\/a> unanimously voted in favor of the resolution after a tense exchange<\/a> between board members and DOC officials in a dispute over access to DOC records related to deaths in the jails in 2025 and other jail issues that has been building since a Sept. 9 meeting.<\/p>\n

Under the Charter, the board has the right to inspect<\/a> \u201call books, records, documents and papers of the department\u201d and \u201cevaluate the performance of the department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice Chairwoman Helen Skipper, who proposed the resolution, said she was unhappy with DOC\u2019s response on a lack of recreation for detainees in the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, and called out DOC\u2019s first deputy commissioner, Frances Torres, by name for being unresponsive about answering the board\u2019s question about a detainee early release program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board formally condemns the department\u2019s ongoing failure to fully and properly respond to the board\u2019s requests for information and documentation, which is a breach of the department\u2019s legal obligations and a fundamental obstruction of independent oversight,\u201d said Skipper quoting from the resolution.<\/p>\n

DOC official James Boyd offered a heated rebuttal, claiming the criticism was unfair.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys already have access to the information. When you come to these meetings and you make it seem like we\u2019re being unresponsive, it\u2019s misleading to the public,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cTo accuse us of being unresponsive I think is totally unfair and off base.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Barry Cozier, a retired state judge who serves on the board, countered that DOC was routinely offering vague answers to specific, detailed questions and even suggesting the board just check the DOC website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a basis for this resolution,\u201d he said. \u201cI was actually appalled. \u2026 There is a problem, and it\u2019s beyond just a disagreement. When we ask for specifics, we expect to receive specific responses and not for you to refer us to your website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board Chairman Dwayne Sampson added, \u201cThis may result in a serious escalation of Charter enforcement by this board on the department. So it is a very serious resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s move was its strongest since August 2023 when five members of the board sued the city<\/a> after then-DOC Commissioner Louis Molina blocked its Charter-mandated access to jail security video. The dispute was eventually settled with an agreement allowing video access to the board once again.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 14, 2025 at 5:03 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city Board of Correction passed a resolution Tuesday sharply criticizing the Correction Department for stonewalling its information…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[266,267,9,24,12,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-2553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-staten-island","15":"tag-staten-island-headlines","16":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}