Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) is a grassroots advocacy campaign created and led by formerly incarcerated people. We work to end the racist law-and-order policies that have more than doubled the number of elders behind bars over the past 20 years, to expand the use of parole, compassionate release, and clemency, and to end life imprisonment. By advocating to free incarcerated elders—women and men who have served decades in prison for crimes including those of violence; who have taken responsibility, transformed their lives, developed profound skills and abilities, and who pose little if any public safety risk—we strike at the system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color.
Our Mission
The Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign is a grassroots advocacy organization created and led by formerly incarcerated people and family members of people in prison. We work to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences. We work to dismantle the racist policies of mass incarceration by expanding the use of parole, compassionate release, clemency, and other forms of release in New York State. We work with other organizations across the country to end life imprisonment in the United States. By organizing community power to free incarcerated elders, we work to uproot a system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color.
Our History
The Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign is a grassroots advocacy organization created and led by formerly incarcerated people and family members of people in prison. We work to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences. We work to dismantle the racist policies of mass incarceration by expanding the use of parole, compassionate release, clemency, and other forms of release in New York State. We work with other organizations across the country to end life imprisonment in the United States. By organizing community power to free incarcerated elders, we work to uproot a system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color.
Past Work
When RAPP launched in 2013, we organized incarcerated people, their families, community members, and organizations to change the NYS Parole Board’s regulations so that parole release decisions were based on who incarcerated people are today. RAPP sourced hundreds of official public comments from currently and formerly incarcerated people and community organizations in support of this initiative; met repeatedly with government stakeholders; and organized community events and media coverage. As a result, the Parole Board changed their regulations twice—in 2014 and 2017—ultimately codifying that parole decisions be guided by “risk and needs principles,” based on who parole applicants are today.
We coupled structural change efforts with cultural ones, demanding a change in the Parole Board’s Commissioners, who determine the Board’s release decisions. Historically, commissioners were white people from rural New York with law enforcement backgrounds. Through public education; research; media work; rallies and press conferences; and meetings with key stakeholders, we advocated for Gov. Cuomo to not reappoint five of the Board’s most punitive commissioners to another 6-year term and to instead appoint new commissioners with diversified professional backgrounds and identities. In June 2017, five of the Board’s worst commissioners retired or were not reappointed, and the governor appointed six new commissioners—the first cohort whose professional experience did not include policing or prosecution.
As a result of these changes to the Board’s regulations and personnel, parole release rates have risen from around 20-25% to 40-45%. For the first time since 2000, the number of elders in NYS prisons fell. It was a first step.
Beginning in 2018, when Democrats gained control of the state legislature, we began to advocate for structural changes to the laws governing parole release. We continue this advocacy as part of a large statewide coalition, the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice (ParoleJusticeNY.com). For more, please see “Current Campaigns.”
From our inception, we have worked most closely with the Parole Preparation Project. Together we have made changes and done work to release hundreds of older incarcerated New Yorkers, and together we continue to lead the work of the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice.