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...
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...
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.
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...
Personnel changes on New York’s Parole Board
By: David Lombardo, The Capitol Pressroom - Two incarceration-focused bills have advanced to the New York State Assembly Correction Committee. The elder parole legislation has been co-sponsored by 31 people, including state Sens. Gustavo Rivera and Robert Jackson....
State Assembly headed back next week to discuss short-term rentals, elder parole
By: Maury Thompson, The Post-Star - ...The ”elder parole” legislation, which has not passed the Senate, would require the Parole Board to conduct a hearing for all incarcerated individuals age 55 and over who have completed at least 15 years of their sentences.
Incarceration bills give older prisoners second chance in New York
By: Eric Harvey, The Riverdale Press - Two incarceration-focused bills have advanced to the New York State Assembly Correction Committee. The elder parole legislation has been co-sponsored by 31 people, including state Sens. Gustavo Rivera and Robert Jackson....
New York’s Prison System Abruptly Halts a Policy Censoring Artists and Writers
By: Victoria Law The Nation - One day after New York Focus broke the story about the censorship policy, the state department announced that it would suspend the rule impeding creative endeavors in prisons
Editorial: End this lobbying secrecy
By: Times Union Editorial Board, Times Union - Ending the secrecy surrounding lobbying on judgeships should be among the more urgent business as the Legislature prepares to wrap up its session this week.
Things to look out for as legislative session closes out
By: Shantel Destra, City & State NY - ... criminal justice advocates have pushed for the passage of two popular parole reform bills. The Elder Parole bill would make older people who have already served more than 15 years in prison eligible for parole, while the Fair & Timely Parole bill would direct parole boards to consider evidence of people’s rehabilitation, not just the severity of their original crimes...
Opinion: The clock is ticking and New York must adopt parole justice
By: David Weprin, Queens Daily Eagle - "What is critically important to acknowledge is that our correctional system is meant to "correct" -- not to "punish" -- those inside the walls. And it is my belief, from hundreds of conversations, that the vast majority of incarcerated individuals are remorseful, have accepted responsibility for their mistakes, and are willing to do the rehabilitative work it takes to return to their communities..."
Racial disparities in NYC parole releases are widening, NYU study finds
By: Graham Rayman, New York Daily News - During the first four months of 2023, the state Parole Board released 45% of white prisoners who appeared before it, compared to 32.4% of all people of color who had hearings, researchers at NYU Law’s Center on Race, Inequality and the Law and the Vera Institute found...
NY ATTORNEY GENERAL GIVES SUPPORT TO ELDER PAROLE BILL
By: Brooklyn Eagle Staff, Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Attorney General James ... said, “The Elder Parole bill will help create a pathway for people to re-enter our society and be reunited with their families. When people transform their lives, they deserve an opportunity for redemption.”
“Peace Family. I’m inspired by the day of action for parole justice in New York. Let’s call on lawmakers to pass Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole now!” — Common
By: Common, via Twitter - "Peace. This is Common. And I'm joining advocates and state lawmakers around New York for a Parole Justice Day of Action. We're demanding the passage of the Elder Parole Bill and the Fair & Timely Parole Bill. Because in New York, too many people, who are eligible for release right now, are still being denied a fair chance to return home and reunite with their families...."
N.Y. needs criminal justice reform: We must put compassion in parole decisions
By: Carol Shapiro, New York Daily News - People often think mass incarceration is the result of a few laws — the federal 1994 crime bill or state-level Rockefeller Drug laws, for example — but in reality it’s driven by everyday decisions, small and large, made by actors across the justice system, including some you’ve probably never heard of...
Criminal justice bills garner increased support for parole reform
By: Nathaniel Wright, BollyInside - As detailed in Spectrum News, support is growing for the reform of the state’s parole process as legislators rush to pass a series of criminal justice measures within the next two weeks....
Elder parole changes gain traction in New York
By: Staff Report, FingerLakes1 - A legislative push to reform New York’s parole system has gained momentum, with the Assembly Correction Committee advancing a bill Wednesday that could grant parole eligibility to prison inmates aged 55 and older, provided they have served at least 15 years of their sentence....
Parole reform support mounts as pols eye criminal justice measures
By: Lisa Kate, Spectrum News 1 - Lawmakers in the Assembly Correction Committee advanced legislation Wednesday to mandate any person in New York prison aged 55 and older to be eligible for a parole hearing after they've served at least 15 years of their sentence. It would include people serving life sentences..
MeToo movement founder backs crime victims and parole law changes in NY
By: Nick Reisman, Spectrum News 1 - Changes to New York's victims' compensation law as well as a proposed overhaul of parole are being backed by a founder of the MeToo movement, advocates announced this week....