Solitary cell. Credit: Ann Kosolapova/Shutterstock.com

Civil liberties lawyers said Friday that through a series of emergency rules, New York's corrections agency has yet to complete the full rollout of a 2021 law that prohibits its officers from resorting to solitary confinement as a default option for addressing disciplinary problems.

However, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is still required to assess public comments on rules toward implementing the law, and yet it continues to violate state law by failing to do so, according to New York Civil Liberties Union lawyer Antony Gemmell.