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Senate floor appeal spotlights contraband, body scanners and calls to repeal HALT Act
Summary
A floor appeal during the New York State Senate focused attention on contraband, staff assaults and the state's HALT Act; an appeal to allow an amendment failed and the underlying bill was returned to the noncontroversial calendar and later passed.
An extended floor dispute in the New York State Senate on Feb. 24, 2025 centered on contraband, staff safety and the limits imposed by the HALT Act, but an appeal to allow an amendment failed and the bill moved to the noncontroversial calendar and ultimately passed.
The exchange began when a senator sought to introduce an amendment related to prison safety measures — including mandatory body scanners, expanded canine patrols, a secure vendor mail program and changes to segregation rules — as part of consideration of Senate print 195 (sponsored by Senator Martinez). Senator Hellman (appealing the chair nd arguing for the amendment) framed the issue as a response to a contraband and chemical exposure crisis in state correctional facilities: “We bought $13,000,000 worth of personal body scanners … Body scanners should be mandatory,” the senator said, and described recent staff hospitalizations and increased assaults.
The appeal was put to a procedural vote on whether to overrule the presiding officer nd allow the amendment. The appeal failed: the tally recorded in the floor transcript was “Aye, 22,” and the record states "The ruling of the chair stands." The presiding officers then restored the bill to the noncontroversial calendar; later that day the Senate recorded the bill as passed (vote listed as Ayes 60).
Why it matters: senators and corrections staff described rising assaults and a contraband problem that they said is tied to the HALT Act statutory change limiting segregated confinement. During debate, figures were cited that the speaker said showed increases in violence since HALT took effect: a staff-assault increase of 32% (from 1,473 to 1,938) and an inmate-on-inmate assault increase of 81% (from 1,489 to 2,697). The senator argued those changes reduced tools corrections leaders previously used for safety and contributed to staffing shortfalls.
Details and competing points: the floor remarks called for mandatory use of body scanners, a secure vendor program to vet packages from third-party sellers, and broader discretion for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCS) to deny entry to visitors who refuse screening. The remarks also described recent events in which multiple staff were taken to emergency rooms after exposure to unknown substances and cited purchases of body scanners in the 2023 budget that, according to the speaker, were being used optionally rather than universally.
What the Senate did: the procedural appeal to allow that amendment was unsuccessful; the chair nd the Senate rejected the appeal and then restored the bill to the noncontroversial calendar. The underlying bill (Senate print 195) was recorded later as passed.
Context and next steps: the debate on the floor did not itself alter the HALT Act; rather, senators used their floor time to press for policy changes and for the full body to consider amendments. The transcript shows the appeals process and the votes taken, but it does not record any final statutory repeal of HALT or a final, binding change to DOCS policy in this session’s floor action.
