Albany, New York, Sept. 20, 2024 – Following a 2020 class action lawsuit filed by Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, a federal judge ruled late Thursday that the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) violated federal anti-discrimination laws by excluding prisoners with disabilities from a military-style boot-camp program known as “Shock.” 

Individuals who complete the six-month Shock program are immediately eligible for release from prison. The program is only open to individuals convicted of non-violent felonies who have less than three years remaining on their prison sentences. Throughout the decades-long history of the program, DOCCS disqualified thousands of individuals based on medical or mental health conditions. In 2009, New York began offering an alternative six-month program to the small number of medically disqualified individuals who were ordered to participate in the program as part of their criminal sentences. However, DOCCS refused to offer an alternative early-release program to the thousands of other individuals who it medically disqualified.

In its decision, the Court found that this policy violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, two federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on disability in government programs and benefits.

“Like any other government agency, DOCCS has an obligation to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to its programs and services, including any programs through which individuals can earn early release from prison,” said Andrew Stecker, Special Litigation Attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services. “We are very pleased with this ruling, and we look forward to a final resolution of the case that ensures DOCCS permanently ceases its discriminatory administration of the Shock program.”

“This is a tremendous victory for thousands of incarcerated individuals with disabilities across New York State,” noted Karen Murtagh, Prisoners’ Legal Services Executive Director. “No one  should be kept in prison longer than necessary simply because they have a medical or mental health condition, ” said Murtagh.