Danielle Muscatello, who represents nearly 90 men in prisons around New York State, along with Seymour James, Jr., was invited to submit testimony for the New York State Legislature Joint Corrections Hearing.
The Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, chaired by Senator Salazar, and the Assembly Committee on Corrections, chaired by Assemblymember Dilan, conducted a Joint Public Hearing on May 14, 2025, beginning at 10 a.m. in Hearing Room B of the Legislative Office Building in Albany.
The topic of the hearing was the Safety of Persons in Custody, Transparency, and Accountability within State Correctional Facilities.
From Ms. Muscatello's testimony:
"Our firm now represents nearly 90 men who have all suffered physical and
psychological abuse at the hands of the men and women entrusted to safeguard and rehabilitate them. 32 of these men were brutalized by CERT members during the Sing Sing lockdown in November 2022, and 48 of them were brutalized by CERT members during the Green Haven lockdown in October 2023. And these are just the men who, with the assistance of their loved ones, were able to reach us. What is also remarkable, and what should disturb everyone listening, is that these lockdowns and overall facility searches were conducted in the presence of OSI 2 staff, the very people charged with policing correctional officers and investigating their misconduct."
Read the entire testimony, which is now a part of the record for the hearing, is here.
