Criminal justice reform groups call on Hochul to commute prison sentences

More than 130 advocacy groups – including the WFP, NAACP New York Conference and Release Aging People in Prison – called on the governor to reduce the state’s prison population

Over 130 groups have signed on to a letter shared with City & State to state leaders urging an expansive use of clemency to help reduce the state’s prison population amid concerns about the safety of incarcerated people after a number of high-profile deaths.

The already tenuous situation in state prisons, which tend to be chronically understaffed, came to a head late last year following the beating death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correction Facility at the hands of guards….