RAPP Campaign
Release Aging People in Prison Campaign
Tinsae Gabriel & Marie Ndiaye, FWD.us — This policy brief examines parole policies and practices in Missouri, Mississippi, and New York – three states that help illustrate some of the factors contributing to the nationwide decline in parole use and provide recommendations for a path forward. . .
Post-COVID Trends in New York's Aging Prison Population — Report from NYS Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli
Albany, NY – New Report by NY State Senator Julia Salazar Finds New York Prisons Fraught with Endemic Violence and Disregard for the Law ...
America’s prison population is aging — and aging faster than ever. The graying of America’s prisons is transforming the landscape of the nation’s correctional systems, presenting myriad operational and fiscal challenges for prison systems across the country. Of most importance, though, is that the ballooning elderly incarcerated population,3 coupled with correctional agencies' inability to adequately address their distinct needs, has created conditions that are ripe for a multitude of civil rights violations, the
exacerbation of chronic medical conditions, and ultimately, needless suffering and preventable deaths. These problems are only getting worse...
During the summer of 2025, the Ulster County Legislature and more than 135 organizations submitted open letters advocating passage of the Fair & Timely Parole and the Elder Parole Bills, full implementation of the HALT Act, and more . . .
ALBANY, NY (06/06/2025) (readMedia) — This morning, the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus (BPHA) held a press conference unveiling the "Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice & Reform", a legislative package aimed to address systemic patterns of abuse and violations of human rights in New York's jails and prisons. One of the priority bills in this package is the Fair Access to Justice Act (A649 Cruz / S844 Salazar), which would remove unfair legal hurdles keeping survivors abused in state custody from accessing the justice they deserve....
[F]or the last nine years of available data, the Parole Board was 22.26% less likely to release a person of color than a white person. This systemic failure remains persistent and is only getting worse...
January 30, 2024: In written testimony, Jose Saldana, Director of Release Aging People in Prison, supports the Unemployment Bridge Program (S3192-Senator Ramos/A4822-Assemblymember Reyes) for the 2024-2025 New York State Budget....
November 3, 2023: Groups fighting Death By Incarceration traveled to Geneva to brief committee for its review of U.S. compliance with human rights treaty
October 19, 2023: In latter to NY State Department of Health and the State Office for the Aging, Senators and Assembly Members urge enactment of the Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole bills + comprehensive re-entry support network for older adults
October 17, 2023: RAPP members join delegation to United Nations, Geneva Switzerland • testify on racial discrimination in prison sentencing
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..."
June 2023: Center on Race, Inequality, & the Law - "The legislature should pass a provision that grants all people aged 55 or older, who have served 15 years or more in prison, immediate parole consideration, regardless of crime or sentence. Roughly 1,000 people are serving life without the possibility of parole or virtual life sentences. ... ¶ It is appalling that despite the repeated documentation of the vast racial disparities in decisions by New York State’s Parole Board, those disparities have continued and worsened, while New York policymakers have failed to address the issue."
By: Hunter Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging While the number of people in New York State prisons has been declining, the number and proportion of older people in prison has …
Dozens of organizations across the United States submitted a complaint to United Nations independent experts challenging the United States’ policy and practice of condemning people to death by incarceration (DBI), …
By: Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., The Sentencing Project
Celebrating the life and mourning the loss of our co-founder and co-director Kathy Boudin By: Columbia University Center for Justice
April, 2022: Prison Policy Initiative: “Our survey of eight states found an average of one commutation for every 10,000 imprisoned people each year…”
Letter from civil rights, criminal justice reform, democracy, and philanthropic leaders and organizations to Governor Hochul, Lieutenant Governor Benjamin, and legislative leaders
By: UCLA Law COVID Behind Bars Data Project “On February 24, 2022, we sent a letter to the leadership of the New York State legislature in support of two bills, …
The Elder Parole Bill affords a parole hearing to any incarcerated person after age 55 who has served 15 years in prison February 16, 2022: Manhattan Community Board Six
By: Theresa Grady, Jeannie Colon, Lisette Nieves and Nawanna Tucker, RAPP Community Leaders “The crisis of mass incarceration is at a boiling point, with people dying in New York’s prisons …
Winter, 2022, Rachael Bedard, Joshua Vaughn, and Angela Silletti Murolo, The City University of New York Law Review (Vol. 25, No. 1)
“In the months ahead, policy makers should carefully examine opportunities to reduce the population of incarcerated individuals age 50 and above.“ NY State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli This report provides …
