RAPP Campaign

Release Aging People in Prison Campaign

susie day

Temple Law Professor and Students File Human Rights Petition on Behalf of 73-Year-Old Pennsylvania Prisoner Serving Life Without Parole

PRESS RELEASE, August 19, 2026 — Philadelphia, PA (August 19, 2026) Yesterday, Professor Rachel López and law students at Temple University Beasley School of Law filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of Charles “Shug” Slaughter, a 73-year-old man with prostate cancer and a heart condition who has spent five decades incarcerated in a Pennsylvania state prison serving a sentence of life without parole (LWOP)....

Read moreTemple Law Professor and Students File Human Rights Petition on Behalf of 73-Year-Old Pennsylvania Prisoner Serving Life Without Parole

Legal Team of Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal Appeals to the UN for Support

Renée Feltz, Truthout — World-renowned political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is 72 years old, suffering multiple health problems, and may die in prison, say legal advocates in a new request they filed today that asks the United Nations to support his release. Abu-Jamal’s legal team decided to appeal to the UN after having exhausted nearly every legal avenue for relief available in the United States. ¶ Abu-Jamal was a Black Panther and journalist when he was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, and he has always maintained his innocence. His death sentence was overturned in 2001, and in 2011, Pennsylvania resentenced him to life without parole. Since then, “each attempt to secure Mr. Abu-Jamal a new and fair trial has been rejected,” argues a submission his lawyer Bret Grote and others made on his behalf to the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention....

Read moreLegal Team of Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal Appeals to the UN for Support

Journalist, Elder Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Perpetual Detention Unjust, Human Rights Groups Appeal to United Nations

Abolitionist Law Center — (PHILADELPHIA) For more than 44 years, U.S. citizen Mumia Abu-Jamal has been arbitrarily detained in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, Abolitionist Law Center and a national coalition of other human rights organizations – American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and Release Aging People in Prison Campaign – submitted a petition to a United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention seeking relief...

Read moreJournalist, Elder Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Perpetual Detention Unjust, Human Rights Groups Appeal to United Nations

Albany OKs Medicaid Lifeline For New Yorkers Walking Out Of Jail

Holden Draper, Hoodline — As the legislative session wound down in Albany, lawmakers quietly signed off on a bill that could change the first days of freedom for thousands of New Yorkers leaving jails and prisons. The measure aims to plug a deadly gap in health care coverage the moment someone walks out the gate, a move that reentry advocates are cheering even as their push for broader parole reforms hit a wall...

Read moreAlbany OKs Medicaid Lifeline For New Yorkers Walking Out Of Jail

Advocates Hold Funeral-Themed Rally Condemning Gov. Hochul & Lawmakers for Failing to Address Crisis of Abuse & Death in NY Prisons & Urging Action in Final Session Days

PRESS RELEASE, June 2, 2026 — Today, a coalition of formerly incarcerated leaders, grieving families, and human rights advocates gathered in the corridor to the New York State Capitol for a powerful and solemn funeral rally condemning Governor Kathy Hochul and the legislature for their inaction in the face of suffering, physical and sexual abuse, and death in prison, and demanding they act in the final few days of session...

Read moreAdvocates Hold Funeral-Themed Rally Condemning Gov. Hochul & Lawmakers for Failing to Address Crisis of Abuse & Death in NY Prisons & Urging Action in Final Session Days

Parole reform inches closer as proponents push lawmakers

Tandy Lau, Amsterdam News — Legislation supporting parole reform in New York State is gaining momentum, signaling good news for advocates who are seeking to reduce deaths through releasing incarcerated people before their maximum sentence if they can demonstrate their rehabilitation. As the Amsterdam News reported recently, 2026 marks the deadliest start in Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) facilities in the past six years and how some advocates are fighting to ensure recent oversight laws are enacted....

Read moreParole reform inches closer as proponents push lawmakers