Gov. Kathy Hochul wants prisoners serving time for violent offenses to be eligible for a program allowing them to cut their sentences short.
Hochul reportedly wants to allow some violent offenders to be eligible for the merit time program – which currently allows non-violent offenders to get time off their sentences by earning degrees or learning vocational skills, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The governor’s office has shared numbers estimating that upwards of 4,000 prisoners have already met the programming requirements and therefore would be eligible for release.
Spectrum News first reported earlier this month that Hochul was considering loosening the merit time requirements.
But several state lawmakers are against releasing potentially dangerous criminals from prison early.
“I personally don’t believe we should be expanding these kinds of opportunities to folks who are incarcerated for serious violent offenses,” state Sen. Jim Skoufis (D-Orange) told The Post.
“I am not in support to allow those convicted of violent felonies to be considered for merit time release,” Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon (D-Oneida) said.
While progressive lawmakers have been pushing the measure, Hochul may be getting behind it as a way to further decrease the prison population.
DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello told reporters earlier this month that state prisons are undermanned by 4,000 people. This comes after Hochul chose to fire about 2,000 illegally striking corrections officers earlier this year.
“I think the governor’s motive is more aligned with using this as a tool to address the uneven staffing ratios that exist in a lot of these prisons,” Skoufis said.
The proposal would not expand eligibility to people convicted of some particularly egregious offenses, such as murder and sex offenses.
A spokesperson for Hochul didn’t immediately comment.
Backroom negotiations over the state’s massive $252 billion proposed state budget are quickly moving forward again now that the legislature and Hochul have mostly finalized an agreement on her proposal to change the state’s 2019 discovery laws.
Lawmakers passed another extension of state funding Thursday with plans to return next week.
