'SHOW ME A HERO' LAWYER TAKES UP FIGHT FOR NY'S STRIKING PRISON GUARDS
MICHAEL SUSSMAN FIRST DEFENDED PRISONERS IN 1978, SAYS HALT ACT DOESN’T PROTECT THEM, IT HURTS THEM
Civil rights lawyer Michael Sussman successfully sued Yonkers for racial discrimination on behalf of the NAACP in the 1980s and was played by Jon Bernthal in the HBO miniseries chronicling the fight, “Show Me a Hero.” Photo credit: screengrab.
Feb. 28, 2025
New York's illegally striking prison guards gained a powerful and unlikely ally on Wednesday.
Michael H. Sussman built his career suing police—not defending them. His website proudly proclaims he first "served as an attorney for prison inmates at state prisons" in 1978.
The legendary 71-year-old civil rights lawyer made his name suing the City of Yonkers for racial discrimination in the 1980s—and winning. He also won $45 million for Black and Latino civil service workers denied promotions due to racial bias and $6 million for the family of a Black Pace University student killed by a white Westchester cop in 2010.
But it was Sussman's epic battle to desegregate Yonkers that he's best known for. It was depicted in the HBO miniseries, “Show Me a Hero.”
"I worked in Yonkers for 26 years," Sussman said proudly. "No one bought me. People tried to kill me. But no one bought me and no one killed me."
The Orange County resident told The Free Lance he took up the guards' fight because he's running for county executive and "There are hundreds and hundreds of Orange County families being negatively affected by this."
The guards' wildcat strike started at the Elmira and Collins Correctional Facilities in western New York Dec. 17, The Free Lance reported. It spread like wildfire. 9 out of 10 guards at all but two of New York's 42 prisons are on strike.
Gov. Hochul deployed the National Guard to replace the strikers last Thursday. Some of the soldiers were sleeping in cells. One said it was “Worse than Afghanistan." Still, Gov. Hochul had to send about 3,000 more. About 6,500 are presently deployed.
A mediator proposed a "deal" to end the strike on Thursday, but late Friday night it appeared a majority of striking guards were set to reject it by not returning to work on Saturday, as the terms of the deal required.
Sussman said he attended a rally on Wednesday with guards from several area prisons. Local police were there too, standing in solidarity with strikers.
"What I'm hearing is a tremendous alienation," Sussman revealed. "These folks deserve a fair hearing, without any stereotyping."
"They're on the front line," Sussman emphasized. "How can we solve the problems without listening to the people doing the work?"
Sussman revealed he sent a letter on the strikers' behalf on Wednesday to arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman, outlining their objections to the proposed deal.
The biggest hurdle is guards' demand that the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act be permanently scaled back. Strikers say the HALT Act emboldened prisoners to break rules, prey on other prisoners and attack guards.
The proposed deal only suspends the HALT Act for 90 days. Repealing or amending it requires legislative action.
The HALT Act passed the state legislature and was signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021. It places a 15-day limit on the length of time prisoners can be placed in solitary confinement for misconduct. After that, they can be segregated from the general population but must be given rehabilitative programming and allowed 4-6 hours outside of a cell everyday.
Sussman said he agreed with guards that the HALT Act created real problems that people of good conscience needed to come together and solve, regardless of political party affiliation.
"I'm certainly not a Republican," the long-time Democrat and one-time Green Party candidate said. "But I agree with a fair amount of what they're saying."
It wasn't just guards being attacked," Sussman emphasized. "The general population is being preyed upon by individuals who are incorrigible."
Sussman called for "Common sense modifications to HALT."
"You never solve a problem," Sussman explained. "Very few things are solved forever. You put something into play and you see how it works."
He concluded with a plea for Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to put politics aside and listen to the guards.
"Let's try to work something out," he said.
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