RAPP Campaign

Release Aging People in Prison Campaign

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SURVIVORS OF RIKERS ISLAND TO JOIN LAWMAKERS IN RALLY TO PROTECT BAIL REFORM LAW, DEMAND INVESTMENTS IN SAFETY, & STOP EXPANDING PRETRIAL JAILING AMID HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS

April 13, Media Advisory: With the state budget already delayed by nearly two weeks because of Governor Hochul’s insistence on forcing changes to the bail laws to increase pretrial jailing, state legislators, people who have survived Rikers Island, and people who lost loved ones at Rikers will gather for a rally and press conference in Foley Square to urge the Legislature to hold the line and protect our hard-won progress and protect the successful bail reform law.

Read moreSURVIVORS OF RIKERS ISLAND TO JOIN LAWMAKERS IN RALLY TO PROTECT BAIL REFORM LAW, DEMAND INVESTMENTS IN SAFETY, & STOP EXPANDING PRETRIAL JAILING AMID HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS

ON EASTER SUNDAY, AFTER POPE FRANCIS UPLIFTS THE DIGNITY OF INCARCERATED PEOPLE, SISTER HELEN PREJEAN CONDEMNS EFFORTS BY NY GOV. HOCHUL TO EXPAND PRETRIAL JAILING AS ANTITHETICAL TO SAFETY & JUSTICE

April 9, Statement: On Easter Sunday, inspired by this act of grace, leading anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean released the following statement condemning Governor Kathy Hochul’s efforts to expand pretrial jailing amid a humanitarian crisis behind bars across the state that has taken many lives

Read moreON EASTER SUNDAY, AFTER POPE FRANCIS UPLIFTS THE DIGNITY OF INCARCERATED PEOPLE, SISTER HELEN PREJEAN CONDEMNS EFFORTS BY NY GOV. HOCHUL TO EXPAND PRETRIAL JAILING AS ANTITHETICAL TO SAFETY & JUSTICE

ADVOCATES WELCOME HOME INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS GRANTED CLEMENCY & URGE GOV. HOCHUL TO GRANT MORE CLEMENCIES ON AN ONGOING BASIS

April 7, Statement: Today, Governor Kathy Hochul granted seven clemencies, including two to incarcerated people in the New York State prison system, one of whom is an incarcerated member of the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign. In response, Jose DiLenola, Clemency Campaign Director of the RAPP Campaign, released the following statement...

Read moreADVOCATES WELCOME HOME INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS GRANTED CLEMENCY & URGE GOV. HOCHUL TO GRANT MORE CLEMENCIES ON AN ONGOING BASIS

COALITIONS LEADING THE FIGHT ON HOUSING, CLIMATE, EDUCATION, AND AN INCLUSIVE SAFETY NET CALL FOR REJECTION OF ANY BUDGET DEAL WITH BAIL LAW CHANGES TO INCREASE PRETRIAL JAILING

April 4, Statement: (New York) – Today, days after the official due date of the budget, the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition, CUNY Rising Alliance, Housing Justice for All, Sunrise Movement NYC, and the Alliance for Quality Education, collectively representing over 200 organizations statewide, released the following statement in response to actions by Governor Kathy Hochul to hold up the budget unless legislators capitulate to her plan to upend the bail law to jail more Black, brown, and low-income people...

Read moreCOALITIONS LEADING THE FIGHT ON HOUSING, CLIMATE, EDUCATION, AND AN INCLUSIVE SAFETY NET CALL FOR REJECTION OF ANY BUDGET DEAL WITH BAIL LAW CHANGES TO INCREASE PRETRIAL JAILING

Fighting ‘furniture poverty’ for the formerly incarcerated

By: Anna Lucente Sterling, Spectrum News/NY1, "When Keith Hunter was released from prison in 2020, it took him two-and-a-half years to secure the keys to his own apartment. Having a stable roof over his head gave Hunter, whose criminal record includes a slew of robbery convictions, a sense of stability after spending more than half of his life in the prison system..."

Read moreFighting ‘furniture poverty’ for the formerly incarcerated

MORE THAN A DOZEN LEGISLATORS JOIN PEOPLE AND FAMILIES GRIEVOUSLY HARMED BY RIKERS & OTHER JAILS TO SAY ‘HOCHUL IS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY’

March 30, 2023, Media Advisory: PARTICIPANTS RALLIED ADMID D.O.C. BODY BAGS & CALLED FOR FULL REJECTION OF GOVERNOR HOCHUL'S PROPOSAL TO WEAKEN BAIL LAWS OR ANY OTHER MASS JAILING PLAN

Read moreMORE THAN A DOZEN LEGISLATORS JOIN PEOPLE AND FAMILIES GRIEVOUSLY HARMED BY RIKERS & OTHER JAILS TO SAY ‘HOCHUL IS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY’

When Will My Sentence End? Reforming the Criminal Justice System • “The Problem with Jon Stewart”

On "America’s Incarceration Epidemic," the March 25 episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart, Stewart tackles America’s incarceration epidemic, featuring interviews with Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner, and formerly incarcerated leaders Jay Jordan, CEO of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, and Mark Shervington, Statewide Advocacy Associate at RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison).

Read moreWhen Will My Sentence End? Reforming the Criminal Justice System • “The Problem with Jon Stewart”

Opinion: Addressing the Plight of New Yorkers Aging Behind Bars

By: Andre Ward, CityLImits, “We witness firsthand the challenges that our older participants face when they come to us, usually because they no longer have family to turn to after such long periods of incarceration: physical health issues that might be less severe if treated properly sooner; unaddressed trauma, greatly exacerbated by incarceration; lack of financial resources; and homelessness.”

Read moreOpinion: Addressing the Plight of New Yorkers Aging Behind Bars

Protestors to Demand Invesco & Greenberg Traurig Immediately Cut Funding for Cop City Project in Atlanta; Protests to Take Place Outside Offices in White Plains

February 21, 2023, Press Release: FOLLOWING THE POLICE MURDER OF A COP CITY PROTESTOR IN JANUARY 2023, THERE IS INCREASING DEMAND FOR BUSINESSES TO CUT TIES WITH COP CITY

Read moreProtestors to Demand Invesco & Greenberg Traurig Immediately Cut Funding for Cop City Project in Atlanta; Protests to Take Place Outside Offices in White Plains

Parole system needs legislative overhaul, NY crime victims say

By: Raga Justin, Times Union: ALBANY — Survivors of violent crimes stood side-by-side with former inmates at the Capitol on Tuesday to push again for an overhaul of the state’s parole system, which advocates said has unfairly pitted victims against people who commit crimes — especially in a time of renewed political agitation about public safety.

Read moreParole system needs legislative overhaul, NY crime victims say