THE ASSEMBLY

STATE OF NEW YORK

ALBANY

January 12, 2018

Honorable Anthony Annucci, Acting Commissioner

Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
State Office Campus, Building 2
1220 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12226-2050

Dear Commissioner Annucci,

We are writing this letter in response to your new vendor policy as memorialized in DOCCS Directive 4911A. We have
received a number of complaints about the policy and believe that it is overly restrictive and imposes a financial hardship
on the families of prisoners.

While drugs and other contraband may be coming in through the package room, the vast number of packages do not
contain contraband. Inmate families should be able to send packages to their loved ones without undue restrictions.
Limiting the number of vendors to two, or even a handful of companies, creates an unreasonable burden on prisoners and
their families.

Besides imposing a financial burden on inmate families, there are unintended consequences of this policy change that
should be reconsidered. For example, an email we received today points out that the new policy means inmates would
only be able to choose from 98 specific books in packages, 24 of which are coloring books. This is, frankly, unacceptable.
Additionally, while the Bible would cost $7 under the new program, the Koran costs $30.

We were also startled to learn that with the restriction on packages, your new policy eliminates commissary from the
facilities participating in the pilot program. Because of this change, inmates cannot purchase perishable items like ice
cream or fresh vegetables and fruits from any source which is particularly problematic for those Jewish and Muslim
inmates who have religious dietary restrictions.

We implore you to end this pilot program immediately and reinstate commissary in all facilities. Disallowing packages
from vendors like Target, Barnes and Noble, Walmart and other national companies is unreasonable. Asking inmates and
their families to pay premium prices for a narrow range of food, books and other items from a few private vendors is
especially hard on the poor.

Very truly yours,

_____________________________
_____________________________ Joseph R. Lentol, Chair
David Weprin, Chair Assembly Committee on Codes
Assembly Committee on Correction
 _____________________________
_____________________________ Richard N. Gottfried, Chair
N. Nick Perry, Chair Assembly Committee on Health
Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative
Caucus

____________________________
____________________________ Daniel J. O’Donnell, Chair
Donna A. Lupardo, Chair Assembly Committee on Tourism
Assembly Chair, Committee on Aging

_____________________________
____________________________ Walter T. Mosley
Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair Assembly Committee on Correction
Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

_____________________________
_____________________________ Félix W. Ortiz
William Colton Assembly Committee on Correction
Assembly Committee on Correction

_____________________________
____________________________ Nily Rozic
Maritza Davila Assembly Committee on Correction
Assembly Committee on Correction

_____________________________ _____________________________
Carmen N. De La Rosa Luis R. Sepúlveda
Assembly Committee on Correction Assembly Committee on Correction

_____________________________ _____________________________
Thomas J. Abinanti Latrice Walker
Member of Assembly Assembly Committee on Correction

_____________________________
Charles Barron _____________________________
Member of Assembly Jo Anne Simon
Member of Assembly

Michael Blake, Assembly Committee on Correction