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LSCNY Fights for Gender Equality in Oneida County Jail By Sam Young, Director of Advocacy
area—less than half the size of the cells on the pods. The While working from home during the COVID-19 pandem- cells contain only a bed, toilet and sink. One of Cotter’s clients described the cells as so small that she could lie on ic, LSCNY Staff Attorney Josh Cotter read a story in the the bed, and touch both walls with her extended arms. Utica Observer-Dispatch which caught his eye. While Instead of a solid door, the cells have metal bars, so that Cotter and all other LSCNY employees were confined to work at home because of the COVID-19 virus, women in- anyone can see into the cells at any time. They have no mates at the Oneida County Jail were confined under very natural light. The linear unit lacks space for the inmates different conditions. Josh learned that women at the Oneida County Jail, who had until recently been housed in open, modern pods, had all been transferred to older, more confining linear housing units. He traveled to the facility in Oriskany, New York, where he spoke with many of the women, and confirmed that they were being housed under much harsher conditions than their male counterparts. “My first reaction was that our office has to do something to help them,” said Cotter. “The women described their living conditions as a 'dungeon' or a 'dog kennel'. Nobody should have to live in the conditions they described to me.” The cells in these linear housing units are smaller, darker, and offer the women they house less privacy, and fewer privileges and opportunities than the pods which house the male inmates. The cells in the pods, where women were housed until January of 2020 (and where general custody men are currently housed), have 80 square feet of space, and contain a bed, a desk and chair, a mirror, a toilet and sink, a window which lets in natural light from the outside, and a solid door with a narrow window, which afforded the women some semblance of privacy. The podular units contain 56 cells surrounding a large, open day room with tables and chairs, where the inmates can congregate to read, talk, or play games. They also offer a recreation room with fresh air and exercise equipment, where inmates may exercise for up to six hours each day, a small library room which contains books, magazines and games, and a room which could be used for private video visits with family members. The pods also offer two cable televisions, air conditioning, showers, telephones, microwave ovens, and water coolers.
A linear housing unit at Oneida County Jail
to congregate. There is a narrow catwalk between the two rows of cells, which is no more than six feet wide, and contains a few tables. There is a single telephone and shower stall, which must be shared by all of the women in the facility. The women on the unit may have a maximum of two hours of recreation each day, in an outside yard with no exercise equipment. There is no air conditioning, microwave, or water cooler.
The linear housing units, which are in an older part of the jail, feature a line of cells which are only 35 square feet in According to jail officials, the older linear units are mostly
