THE SANCTION THAT PETITIONER BE CONFINED TO A SPECIAL HOUSING UNIT (SHU), NOW KNOWN AS SEGRETATED CONFINEMENT, FOR 730 DAYS VIOLATED THE HUMANE ALTERNATIVES TO LONG-TERM SOLITARY CONFINEMENT ACT (HALT ACT); THE CORRECTION LAW LIMITS SUCH CONFINEMENT TO 15 CONSECUTIVE DAYS (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, in a full fledged opinion by Justice Pritzker, determined that the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act (the HALT Act) prohibited petitioner’s confinement in a special housing unit (SHU), now known as segregated confinement, for 730 days. The maximum permitted by the Correction Law is 15 consecutive days:

… [P]ursuant to Correction Law § 137 (6) (k) (i), DOCCS [NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision] “may place a person in segregated confinement for up to three consecutive days and no longer than six days in any [30-]day period if, pursuant to an evidentiary hearing, it determines that the person violated [DOCCS] rules which permit a penalty of segregated confinement. [DOCCS] may not place a person in segregated confinement for longer than three consecutive days or six days total in a [30-]day period unless the provisions of subparagraph (ii) . . . are met.” … Correction Law § 137 (6) (k) (ii) provides that DOCCS “may place a person in segregated confinement beyond the limits of subparagraph (i) . . . or in [an RRU] only if, pursuant to an evidentiary hearing, it determines by written decision that the person committed one of [certain statutorily provided] acts and if the [C]ommissioner or his or her designee determines in writing based on specific objective criteria the acts were so heinous or destructive that placement of the individual in general population housing creates a significant risk of imminent serious physical injury to staff or other incarcerated persons, and creates an unreasonable risk to the security of the facility.” Although Correction Law § 137 (6) (k) (ii) does not contain a specific temporal limitation, this can be found in Correction Law § 137 (6) (i) (i), which provides, with certain exceptions, that “[n]o person may be placed in segregated confinement for longer than necessary and no more than [15] consecutive days. Nor shall any person be placed in segregated confinement for more than [20] total days within any [60-]day period.” Given these limitations, we find that not only the penalty imposed by the Hearing Officer, but also the reduced penalty of 730 days in SHU, violates the HALT Act. Matter of Peterkin v New York State Dept. of Corr. & Community Supervision, 2025 NY Slip Op 03617, Third Dept 6-12-25