PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Vidal Guzman, Executive Director and Founder of America on Trial
3:48:46
·
179 sec
Vidal Guzman, Executive Director and Founder of America on Trial, testified in support of Intro 423, sharing personal experiences to highlight the importance of notifying families about incarcerated individuals' well-being and deaths. He emphasized the real fear of "getting lost in the system" and the need for accountability in correctional facilities.
- Shared stories of witnessing lack of communication with families about deaths and emergencies in correctional facilities
- Stressed the importance of maintaining contact between incarcerated individuals and their loved ones
- Called for accountability to be at the center of discussions about incarceration and family notification procedures
Vidal Guzman
3:48:46
Good afternoon.
3:48:46
My name is Vidal Guzman.
3:48:48
I am the executive director of American trial and the founder.
3:48:52
I'm here to support Control 42423.
3:48:57
From my personal experience, I've been of state.
3:48:59
I I know the term you can get lost means a real thing.
3:49:04
You know, my personal experience with people passing away in the system, I remember my first time me and an elder, we used to always run to the window to watch the sunrise.
3:49:15
And, you know, one day, he wasn't there.
3:49:17
And he passed away when I was an old construction facility in his bed, And I asked myself, did his did his family get known to arrive?
3:49:25
Oh, did his family get reached out to?
3:49:29
A second time, I was in Green Correctional Facility, and I was getting ready to go visit my loved one.
3:49:36
And every time you check-in in Green Correctional Facility, you got check-in with the correctional officer.
3:49:41
Before I keep me checking, a mother ran in front of me and said, I have not heard from my son in a week.
3:49:47
I have not got no calls about my son.
3:49:50
And what happened was the correctional officers looked through the computer and said, well, we we called you a week ago and told you that to tell you that your son has been buried.
3:50:00
And for me being in in green correction facility being nineteen years old, that was the biggest fear of anyone when we mean the term of getting lost in the system.
3:50:11
Or the ones who land in solitary confinement, I heard about a story that somebody land in solitary confinement, and they heard about that their family was in danger.
3:50:23
So they couldn't even when you're a solitary confinement, you can't make calls, but you can reach out to the counselor and let them know, like, yeah, my family is in danger.
3:50:31
I need to get in contact with somebody the next day his family was killed.
3:50:37
And then and that same day he took his life, and I asked myself, who exactly did he was able to reach out to or who exactly was the Department of Correction able to reach out to?
3:50:48
When we hear these stories, the intro 42423.
3:50:55
I hope this becomes a domino effect in other different counties as well because the term of getting lost in the system is real.
3:51:04
And accountabilities is real.
3:51:07
And for a lot of brothers and sisters upstate that maybe landed through rikers and going upstate, I think accountabilities has to be the center of this conversation.
3:51:19
The last thing I say is, you know, people are just these are humans.
3:51:23
Right?
3:51:24
Everybody deserve to have contact with their loved ones in any in any situations.
3:51:30
So just pass these bills and make sure accountability is in the center, the middle, and in the end of every issue when it comes to making sure family members know what happened to their families while they're incarcerated.
3:51:44
Thank you.
