New York state prisons are violating a law that took effect in April by keeping incarcerated individuals in solitary confinement for more than 15 days, according to data cited by a group that advocated for the law’s passage.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision reported that 228 incarcerated individuals were in segregated confinement for more than 15 days as of Aug. 1. Under the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Law, known as HALT, the use of solitary confinement is limited to 15 consecutive days, or 20 days in a 60-day period.

The data released by DOCCS shows the average length of stay in segregated confinement is 16.1 days, with 50 incarcerated individuals held in special housing units for between 31 and 90 days. The maximum length of stay, according to the department, was 72 days.

Jerome Wright, a formerly incarcerated individual who is the co-director of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, blasted DOCCS in a statement.

“Survivors of solitary confinement and our families are appalled that DOCCS continues to traumatize, torture and sometimes even kill our community members by flagrantly violating the law,” Wright said. “When we violate a rule in prison, we suffer the inhumanity of solitary confinement. I suffered eight years in solitary, mostly for bogus infractions. What happens then they violate the law? The status quo has got to go.”

State lawmakers also criticized the department, with Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry saying that it is “deeply disturbing” that DOCCS is keeping incarcerated individuals in solitary confinement longer than 15 days. State Sen. Julia Salazar, who chairs the state Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee, pledged to continue working to “ensure that prisons become fully compliant with the law.”

In a statement, DOCCS said it “continuously monitors the status of incarcerated individuals housed in (Special Housing Unit) cells and makes every effort to effect transfers as expeditiously as possible. Timely transfer referrals are submitted and transfers occur when appropriate space is available. DOCCS has also implemented specific policies associated with the implementation and enforcement of HALT, including central office review and redundancies to ensure compliance.”

HALT has been the subject of criticism from state corrections officers who blame the law for an uptick in assaults on staff over the last five months. According to DOCCS, assaults on staff are on pace to shatter the record (1,177) set in 2021. There have been 995 assaults on staff through the first eight months of the year.

Most of the assaults occurred in maximum-security prisons and did not result in major injuries. But there were eight injuries in the last three months that were classified as serious, meaning they required transport to a hospital for treatment.

The #HALTsolitary Campaign countered the officers’ claims by noting that they report the assaults and “can increase or decrease the number of reported incidents as they choose.” DOCCS confirmed that the data is collected from correctional facilities. The statistics are included in the department’s monthly update published on its website.