Brutalized Behind Bars in New York State - The New York Times

"New York City’s longstanding failure to curb brutality by guards at the
Rikers Island jail complex fell under a spotlight last year when the
United States attorney in Manhattan joined a class-action lawsuit and
then the city agreed in June to sweeping policy changes.
Now charges of gratuitous beatings and even torture by
corrections officers in the New York State prison system are attracting
federal scrutiny. Though it is hard to fathom, the state system for
disciplining officers who batter inmates without cause is even worse
than in the city jails. To begin to fix this problem, state officials will
need to win stronger disciplinary provisions in the next round of
contract negotiations with the corrections union and generally take a
much more aggressive approach to getting abusive officers off the job."