New York state will pay $24 million to settle a lawsuit related to the murder of state prisoner Robert Brooks, who was beaten to death by guards in 2024, a state official said.
Brooks died at a hospital near the Marcy Correctional Facility after he was attacked by guards. Footage from body-worn cameras showed corrections officers kicking and punching Brooks in an infirmary at the prison.
One guard was convicted of Brooks’ murder and six others pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The killing was followed by a three-week wildcat strike by disgruntled corrections officers and pushed lawmakers to require more cameras in the prison system, among other oversight changes.
Lawyers for Brooks' estate sued the state, saying officials violated his civil rights by ignoring patterns of abuse for years. Attorney Elizabeth Mazur filed a letter Friday with a federal court in Binghamton confirming the settlement. She didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, reiterated that Brooks' death was a tragedy. The state will pay $24 million, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed.
“There is nothing that can erase the pain the Brooks family has endured,” Hochul said in a statement. “It is my hope that this agreement will provide them with some measure of relief in the aftermath of his loss. “
State Sen. Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat, said in a statement that incarcerated people are often subjected to mistreatment by the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, or DOCCS.
“If the rampant abuse by correction officers was not normalized by DOCCS, if officers who engage in brutality and cover-ups were fired, and if New York State had addressed the decades of complaints of excessive force at the hands of DOCCS staff — then Mr. Brooks might still be alive today,” Salazar said. “New York must take decisive actions to end the rampant brutality and lack of accountability that permeate our state's prison system and enabled this murder.”
A corrections department spokesperson said Brooks’ death was a “dark and painful chapter” in the department’s history.
“Those responsible have been criminally prosecuted, and DOCCS remains committed to learning from what happened and taking meaningful steps to ensure that it is never repeated,” spokesperson Tom Mailey said.
