§ 196 — Violations of institutional labor regulations

§ 196. Violations of institutional labor regulations. Any contract\nmade by the commissioner of correction or warden of any prison, or by\nany officer or any other authority whatsoever, of any prison,\nreformatory, penitentiary or other correctional institution of this\nstate, in violation of, or contrary to, the provisions of this article,\nshall be null and void. It shall be the duty of any such officer or\nauthorities to furnish to the attorney-general, upon demand therefor, a\ntrue copy, if in writing, and if not, in substance, of any contract made\nby such officer or authorities, relating in any way to the system of\nlabor adopted, or to the employment of prisoners in any of said prisons,\nreformatories, penitentiaries or other correctional institutions.\nWhenever the attorney-general shall be satisfied that any contract made\nas aforesaid is contrary to or in violation of this article, or that any\nof the officers or authorities aforesaid have entered into or are\nengaged in any contract or arrangement for the labor of prisoners, or\nrelating to the system adopted or continued in said institutions, which\ncontract or arrangement is contrary to or in violation of law as\naforesaid, if he shall be of the opinion that the facts require such\naction, he is hereby authorized to bring an action in the supreme court\nin the name of the people of the state of New York, in any county which\nhe may select, for the purpose of testing the validity of any contract\nor arrangement made by any of the officers herein named, relating in any\nway to the system of labor adopted, or the employment of prisoners in\nany of said prisons, reformatories, penitentiaries or other correctional\ninstitutions, or to determine the validity of any act or thing done by\nany officer herein mentioned, which act or thing shall be alleged to\nhave been in violation of this article. Any party to such contract,\nagreement or arrangement as aforesaid, or interested in the\ndetermination of such action, shall be made defendant, and pending the\ntrial or hearing of the facts alleged, or of any issue made as\naforesaid, the court shall, upon notice of the attorney-general, and\nupon a petition duly verified showing the making of any contract or\narrangement in violation of the provisions of this article, or the doing\nof any act or thing by any of the parties defendant, in violation of\nthis article, grant an injunction order, restraining the parties named\nin said order from the further prosecution of the business complained\nof, or from the further performance of the contract or arrangement\nclaimed to have been entered into as aforesaid, and to restrain and\nenjoin such officer from the further continuance of any act alleged to\nbe in violation of this article. And any disobedience of such injunction\norder shall be punishable as provided by article nineteen of the\njudiciary law. And upon any trial had, judgment shall follow the\nfindings of fact made by the court or jury, as in other cases, and with\ncosts, in the discretion of the court.\n