Suit: ‘Catch-22’ for rehab in state prisons

State prison officials routinely flout judges’ orders that inmates receive reduced sentences in exchange for intensive drug treatment, a new lawsuit claims.

Top brass at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision have ordered that inmates with disciplinary infractions — including drug use behind bars — be denied participation in a boot camp-style rehab program called SHOCK, according to the Manhattan Federal Court suit filed Wednesday.

The DOCCS policy disregards judges’ orders that inmates receive SHOCK as part of their sentences, as well as a 2009 law, the suit claims. Inmates who complete the program are rewarded with a reduced sentence.

The suit seeking class action status was filed by Michael Matzell, who in 2015 was sentenced to four years in prison for possession of a controlled substance in St. Lawrence County, near the Canadian border.

If DOCCS had followed the law and a judge’s order, Matzell would have been released 506 days earlier than he was, the suit states. Instead, Matzell was denied rehab — for using drugs behind bars at Bare Hill Correctional Facility.

“It was mind-blowing,” said Matzell, 35, who is recovering from heroin addiction. He described prison officials’ rationale as “you’ve got a drug problem so we’re not going to send you to the drug program.”

The Appellate Division Third

Department ruled on May 31, 2019, that DOCCS did not have the right to defy a court order regarding Matzell’s enrollment in SHOCK. Nevertheless, DOCCS continues the policy, according to the suit.

Attorney Katie Rosenfeld estimated hundreds of inmates — including ones from the city — have been affected by the policy in the past three years.

“DOCCS barred Mr. Matzell from enrolling in a substance abuse treatment program because he had abused substances while incarcerated. By denying him access to treatment on the grounds that he had a substance abuse problem — the very condition he was attempting to treat — DOCCS created a nightmarish Catch-22,” the suit reads.

DOCCS declined comment.