If the Risk is Low, Let Them Go
May 27, 2020: New York, New York
Speakers Will Demand New York End Solitary and Release People to Save Lives, End Suffering, and Stop the Spread of COVID, Highlighting New Data Showing High Rates of Suicide and Suicide Attempts in Solitary and New Data Showing People of Color Account for 81% of All NY Prison Deaths Since Outbreak of COVID
…May 25, 2020: New York, New York
Advocates Call for Legislature to Pass Elder Parole, Fair & Timely Parole, and the HALT Solitary Confinement Act to Reduce the Number of People in Prison who are Vulnerable to COVID-19, Limit the Spread of the Virus, and Help Ensure that People in Prison Get Treatment, Not Torture
…May 21, 2020: New York, New York
Passing Elder Parole, Fair & Timely Parole, and the HALT Solitary
Confinement Act Will Reduce the Number of People in Prison who are
Vulnerable to COVID-19, Limit the Spread of the Virus, and Help Ensure
that People Behind Bars With Symptoms Get Treatment, Not Torture
May 19, 2020: New York, New York
Elder Parole, Fair & Timely Parole, and the HALT Solitary Confinement Act Will Reduce the Number of People in Prison who are Vulnerable to COVID19, Limit the Spread of the Virus, and Help Ensure that People Behind Bars With Symptoms Get Treatment, Not Torture
…May 18, 2020: New York, New York
Speakers Highlighted New Data Showing People of Color Account for 81% of NY Prison Deaths Since Outbreak of COVID and Demand Action
Zoom recording here; Password: 5F.56%K2
May 14, 2020: New York, New York
New Data Showing People of Color Account for 81% of NY Prison Deaths
Since Outbreak of COVID Prompts Advocates to Demand Legislature Call Acting State Prison Commissioner Anthony Annucci To Testify at
Legislative Hearing on COVID-19’s Impact on Communities of Color
As Gov. Cuomo Fails to Address Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Fatalities
Across NY State, Advocates Point to Data Showing Compounding Effect
of Systemic Racism in NY Prisons and Renew Call for Mass Clemency
May 13, 2020: New York, New York
WHO: People formerly incarcerated at Bedford Hills,VOCAL-NY, Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, WESPAC, Alliance of Families for Justice, Center for Community Alternatives (in formation), New Hour for Women & Children–LI, Survived
and Punished, National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
WHAT: Rally and virtual press conference
WHERE: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (Bedford, NY) / ZOOM
WHEN: May 15, 2020 @ 11 AM
…May 13, 2020: New York, New York
Advocates Demand Gov. Cuomo Grant Broad and Immediate Clemencies in Response to Figures From DOCCS That The Department Has Released Less Than One Half of 1 Percent of New Yorkers During COVID Pandemic
…May 11, 2020: New York, New York
Advocates Respond to Gov. Cuomo’s Exclusionary COVID-19 Prison Release Plan: Excluding People Effectively Sentences Them to Death
Today, the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation
Project, #HALTsolitary Campaign, VOCAL-NY, Worth Rises and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club released the following statement in response to a report from the New York Law Journal that Gov. Cuomo is slightly expanding his narrow COVID-19 prison release mechanism to allow the
early release of incarcerated people within 90 days of release who are convicted of non-violent crimes:
Event on May 7, 8 2020: Fishkill Correctional Facility, New York, New York
In Wake of More New COVID Prison Deaths, Advocates Hold Two Day Vigil Outside Fishkill Correctional Facility and Prison’s Burial Grounds To Mourn Incarcerated People Lost to COVID-19 And Call for Gov. Cuomo to Grant Mass Clemencies
The Groups Will Uplift the Message: Prisons+COVID-19=Death and Call for the Immediate Release of Vulnerable New Yorkers in Prison
May 6, 2020: New York, New York
Advocates Slam Gov. Cuomo for Forcing Incarcerated People to Make Hundreds of Thousands of Protective Masks They Can’t Wear,
Call on Cuomo to Grant Broad Clemency and Take Other COVID Actions
Today, Worth Rises, Color of Change, the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, #HALTsolitary Campaign, VOCAL-NY, and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club released the following statement in response to a report in Mother Jones that incarcerated people in New York State prisons are making hundreds of thousands of face masks – for pennies on the dollar – and are prevented by DOCCS from wearing the masks themselves to protect against contracting COVID-19:
“It is outrageous that Governor Cuomo is forcing incarcerated New Yorkers – disproportionately Black and Brown – to make hundreds of thousands of essential face masks, while simultaneously preventing those same New Yorkers from wearing the masks themselves to protect against contracting COVID-19. Adding to their callous and inhumane policy, Governor Cuomo and DOCCS are paying incarcerated New Yorkers just pennies an hour to manufacture this essential PPE in settings that are known breeding grounds for contagious disease.’
…May 5, 2020: New York
Coalition Holds Media Briefing on COVID-19 in NY State Prisons
The Group Outlined What Gov. Cuomo Has and Hasn’t Done to
Protect the Lives of New Yorkers in Prison During the Pandemic and
Called for Broad Clemencies and Other COVID Related Actions
A coalition of legislators, health experts, advocates, and community leaders directly impacted by New York’s criminal legal system held a media briefing on the state of New York State prisons and releases amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Full zoom recording of the briefing here. The briefing featured Assembly Member Carmen De La Rosa (AD-72), Dr. Robert Cohen, and attorneys and advocates from the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, and FWD.us.
…May 1, 2020: New York, New York
Legislators Sent the Letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, DOCCS Acting
Commissioner Anthony Annucci, and Parole Board Chairperson Tina Stanford Demanding Swift Action To Save Lives
46 New York State Senators and Assembly Members signed a letter calling on Governor Cuomo to immediately release New Yorkers from state prisons who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Specifically, the letter calls for the release of people in prison who are aging and elderly, facing health concerns, parole eligible, or within a year of their release. The letter addressed to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Acting Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Anthony Annucci, and Chairwoman of the Parole Board Tina Stanford argues the only effective way to slow the deadly spread of COVID-19 is to release these people from the confines of prison.
…April 30, 2020: New York, New York
Today, the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation
Project, #HALTsolitary Campaign, VOCAL-NY, Worth Rises, and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club released the following statement in response to news of the first COVID19 death of an incarcerated woman and Governor Cuomo’s plans to release some pregnant woman from prison:
“The Governor’s refusal to grant any clemencies led to the first COVID death of an incarcerated woman in New York State prisons. Darlene “Lulu” Benson-Seay was effectively sentenced to death because the Governor didn’t care enough about her to protect her from this virus by releasing her.’
…April 27, 2020: New York, New York
Today, the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, #HALTsolitary Campaign, VOCAL-NY, Worth Rises, and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club released the following statement in response to news that two more people at Fishkill Correctional Facility have died with COVID-19:
“Two more people at Fishkill Correctional Facility have died with COVID-19 because Governor Cuomo refuses to value the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers. It is clear that Cuomo’s prisons cannot stop COVID-19’s spread or the harm it inflicts on people behind bars. Fishkill and Sing Sing Correctional Facilities have more COVID cases than all other prisons in New York State. They also account for 7 of the 9 COVID related deaths of incarcerated people that have happened thus far. These tragedies are further proof that the only way for Cuomo to adequately respond to the presence of COVID-19 in New York State prisons is by granting broad clemencies to vulnerable incarcerated people and reducing the overall prison population.”