Groups Include NAACP, NYCLU, the Working Families Party, the RAPP Campaign, and the HALT Solitary Campaign
(New York) — A coalition of more than 135 civil rights, faith-based, crime victims and community organizations today released a letter calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and other state officials to use clemency powers and more to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in New York’s prisons (see PDF here). The letter highlights a system in which incarcerated people are under extreme duress, citing widespread cancellation of educational, recreational, and rehabilitative programming as well as visits, health and mental health care, and other basic necessities.
The letter’s co-signers, which include the NAACP New York State Conference, the NYCLU, the Working Families Party, the RAPP Campaign, and the HALT Solitary Campaign, argue that the current conditions are not only inhumane but also counterproductive to public safety and rehabilitation…