NYS Mental health advocates rally for Daniel’s Law passage
By: Emma Quinn, CBS 6 News, Albany: Changing the way New York responds to mental health emergencies, that's the mission behind the Daniels law legislation...
Advocates unite for Daniel’s Day in Albany, push for mental health response reform
By: Corey James, Spectrum News 1: This weekend in Albany, a statewide movement gained momentum as advocates, lawmakers and mental health professionals came together to commemorate Daniel's Day. The event was in memory of Daniel Prude, who died in the custody of the Rochester police in 2020 during a mental health crisis...
DEATH BY INCARCERATION IS TORTURE: The Cruelty of Life Imprisonment in the United States
September 12, 2023: "Isn’t part of the human experience learning from mistakes and becoming better? . . . We transgress, we’re held accountable, we transform, and then we make amends. Death by incarceration strips people of this experience..."
Formerly incarcerated and fighting for prison reform
By: Tim Murphy, NY Nonprofit Media: Jose Hamza Saldana, director of Release Aging People in Prison, in a conversation with New York Nonprofit Media, discusses how to effect change in the face of an Albany scared of seeming soft on crime.
NY takes strides in clemency reform as Hochul grants 13 pardons and commutation
By: Rob Abruzzese, Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Gov. Kathy Hochul granted clemency to 13 individuals last week, a move she claims underscores her commitment to rethinking and reforming the clemency process...
ADVOCATES WELCOME HOME INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS GRANTED CLEMENCY & URGE GOV. HOCHUL TO GRANT MORE CLEMENCIES ON AN ONGOING BASIS
September 8, Press Release: Today, Governor Kathy Hochul granted 13 clemencies, including three commutations to people incarcerated in the New York State prison system and ten pardons to individuals already living in the community. In response, Jose DiLenola, Clemency Campaign Director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign (RAPP), released the following statement...
Opinion: Looking at Women’s Equality Day from behind bars
By: Serena Martin-Liguori, New York Nonprofit Media: Women are the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population, and along with gender-expansive people, often punished more harshly than others in prison.
Testimony on NY State Master Plan for Aging • by Ronald Dennis
August 24, Press Release: "My name is Ronald Dennis. I served 36 years in prison in New York State. Today I’m a Syracuse Community Leader with Release Aging People in Prison Campaign and a VOCAL-NY Leader. I applaud The New York State Department of Health and New York State Office for the Aging for coordinating a Master Plan for Aging for our state. However, I believe that if this Master Plan were to exclude older adults in prison, it would only serve to further entrench racism ... and to continue the backwards tradition of ignoring the essential humanity of incarcerated people...."
Opinion Letter: Compassionate Release for Those Aging Behind Bars
By: Carol Shapiro, New York Times: As a former parole commissioner, I know that dementia is just the tip of the iceberg of the problem of mass aging behind bars....
Opinion: I’ve Reported on Dementia for Years, and One Image of a Prisoner Keeps Haunting Me
By: Katie Engelhart, New York Times: At Federal Medical Center Devens, a federal prison in Massachusetts, there is a prisoner who thinks he is a warden. “I’m the boss. I’m going to fire you,” Victor Orena, who is 89, will tell the prison staff....
Nonprofit mission: ‘A furnished apartment makes someone feel human’
By: Tim Murphy, NYN Media: How a used couch and other pieces of second-hand furniture have gone a long way for a nonprofit in helping those coming directly out of the prison and the shelter systems
In Brutal Summer Heat, Prisoners Say Their Cells Are Like “Stifling Hot Coffins”
By: Victoria Law, Truthout - Shortly after midnight this past Friday, guards found 37-year-old Elizabeth Hagerty dead in her un-air-conditioned Texas prison cell. The day before, temperatures had reached nearly 100 degrees...