Barbed wire surrounds Marcy Correctional Facility state prison on Route 88 in Marcy, outside Utica.

Advocacy groups and journalists — from the Marshall Project and The New York Times to the Times Union and other outlets — have detailed the rickety system of discipline for state prison employees that makes it far too difficult to fire abusive corrections officers as well as those who fail to report incidents of abuse. Many of these reports have noted that labor unions retain veto power over the selection of arbitrators who have the final say on whether an accused guard can be terminated.

The result is a system that guarantees abuse will continue: Where there are few consequences for bad behavior, it will spread like a........

© Times Union