Staffing shortages at New York prisons have worsened, morale among guards remains low, and the lives of incarcerated people are still disrupted six months after a wildcat prison strike ended.

And prison officials are moving to weaken restrictions on the use of solitary confinement in state prisons, bowing to pressure from correctional officers who cited the law as a cause of their unlawful three-week walkout this winter.

The result is a raging debate over prison policy in Albany that will likely persist as Gov. Kathy Hochul runs for a second term.

“I'm sure that we're going to be talking about prisons a lot for the next 13 or 14 months,” said state Sen. Dan Stec, a Republican whose Adirondack district includes seven correctional facilities.

The state Department of Corrections and Commu

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