• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

RAPP Campaign

If the Risk is Low, Let Them Go

Header Right

  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Our History
    • Our People
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Current Campaigns
    • Past Work
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
  • Press
    • Press Releases
    • In the News
  • Resources
    • Reports
    • Advocacy Sheets
  • Donate
    • Donate Online Here
    • Our Supporters

Mobile Menu

  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Our History
    • Our People
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Current Campaigns
    • Past Work
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
  • Press
    • Press Releases
    • In the News
  • Resources
    • Reports
    • Advocacy Sheets
  • Donate
    • Donate Online Here
    • Our Supporters
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
You are here: Home / Press Releases / December 29, 2020: New York Advocates Demand Emergency Action in Response to New COVID-19 Death at Auburn Prison

December 29, 2020: New York Advocates Demand Emergency Action in Response to New COVID-19 Death at Auburn Prison

December 29, 2020: New York, New York

Download Here

THREE INCARCERATED PEOPLE HAVE DIED OF COVID-19 IN NY STATE PRISONS IN LAST TWO WEEKS AMID COVID SURGE

On Tuesday, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) reported that an incarcerated person at Auburn Correctional Facility died of COVID-19. That’s the third incarcerated person in NY State prisons to die of COVID-19 in the last two weeks. In response, the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, and the #HALTsolitary Campaign released the following statement:

“Tens of thousands of New Yorkers in prison and their families are desperate for Governor Cuomo to take real action to stop COVID-19 behind bars. More than a thousand incarcerated people have contracted the virus in just the last month. Three have tragically died in the last two weeks. In response, the Governor suspended all visits from friends and family, but that won’t stop the root of the COVID-19 problem in prisons: staff cycling in and out, the impossibility of social distancing, and lack of effective PPE. Cuomo must grant life-saving clemencies to vulnerable people and reduce the prison population right now, and the legislature must pass COVID-related reforms, including the Elder Parole bill, Fair and Timely Parole Act and the HALT Solitary Confinement Act to prevent more needless deaths behind bars.”

BACKGROUND: The New York State prison system reported the 21st death of an incarcerated person, this time at Auburn Correctional Facility, on December 29, 2020. DOCCS previously reported that another incarcerated person died of COVID-19 at Clinton Correctional Facility on December 22nd and at Woodbourne Correctional Facility on December 17.

Since December 1, 1,334 incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19. There are currently outbreaks of the virus at Attica, Bedford Hills, Bare Hill, Clinton, Woodbourne, Groveland, Cayuga, and Walsh Correctional Facilities.

Amid the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo has granted a total of 10 clemencies to New Yorkers in prison– 3 on June 17th and 7 on December 24th. Governors in California, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and other states across the country have granted more clemencies than Cuomo during the pandemic. Cuomo has refused to take action despite calls from advocates, attorneys, family members of people in prison, public health experts, Members of Congress, district attorneys and philanthropists, editorial boards, and high profile celebrities for him to grant wide-sweeping clemencies to people in prison in response to the virus. Instead of granting more clemencies, Governor Cuomo has condemned thousands to solitary confinement, which only exacerbates the harm and spread of COVID-19.

There are many thousands of people in New York State prisons who are eligible for parole release, aged 50 and older, imprisoned on a non-criminal technical parole violation, and/or within a year of their release date:

  • 4,022 people who are already eligible for parole release
  • 3,305 people held on technical parole violation
  • 8,291 people aged 50 and older
  • 6,524 within a year of max/condition release (including 5 women with infants who are part of the Bedford Hills nursery program and one pregnant woman)

Advocates have also called for lawmakers in Albany to pass three bills amid the pandemic:

  • Elder Parole would allow the State Board of Parole to provide an evaluation for potential parole release to incarcerated people aged 55 and older who have already served 15 or more years, including some of the state’s oldest and sickest incarcerated people.
  • Fair and Timely Parole would provide more meaningful parole reviews for incarcerated people who are already parole eligible.

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

AT RALLY IN SUPPORT OF PAROLE REFORM, NY LAWMAKERS ISSUE OFFICIAL PROCLAMATIONS TO DOZENS OF FORMERLY INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS DOING ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY SAFETY WORK

RAPP CAMPAIGN STATEMENT ON FIRST DAY OF 2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

RAPP RESPONDS TO GOV. KATHY HOCHUL’S INAUGURATION ADDRESS

ADVOCATES EXPRESS DISAPPOINTMENT W/FAILURE OF PRESIDENT BIDEN, WHO BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR MASS INCARCERATION, TO GRANT CLEMENCY TO ANYONE IN PRISON

ADVOCATES CELEBRATE INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS GRANTED CLEMENCY BY GOV. HOCHUL & LOOK FORWARD TO HER GRANTING MORE CLEMENCIES ON AN ONGOING BASIS

Senate Correction & Judiciary Chairs, Crime Survivors, & Reform Advocates Held Press Conference Ahead of Public Hearing to Say: “Parole Justice Measures are Next”

ADVOCATES’ STATEMENT ON NYS INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT FINDING SHARP & WORSENING RACIAL DISPARITIES IN PRISON DISCIPLINE

Family Members, Survivors of Incarceration, State Legislators, and Allied Collective of Leading Campaigns Held Statewide Rallies to Stop the Repression and Human Rights Crisis in New York State Prison

ADVOCATES TO HOLD RALLIES IN NYC, BUFFALO, & ALBANY CALLING ON GOV HOCHUL TO FULFILL HER COMMITMENT TO EXPAND CLEMENCY AND REUNITE FAMILIES

RELEASE AGING PEOPLE IN PRISON CAMPAIGN (RAPP) RESPONDS TO GOV. KATHY HOCHUL’S RE-ELECTION ON 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HOCHUL’S COMMITMENT TO EXPAND USE OF CLEMENCY

FAMILIES OF INCARCERATED NEW YORKERS HOLD STATEWIDE RALLIES CALLING FOR END TO CRUEL DOCCS PACKAGE BAN

Advocacy and Legal Groups Urge U.N. to Call for Abolition of Life Sentences in U.S.

Previous Post: « December 24, 2020: Advocates Welcome Home 7 New Yorkers Granted Clemency Yet Share the Heartbreak of Thousands of Families Whose Loved Ones Will Continue to Languish Behind Bars During COVID-19 Pandemic
Next Post: December 30, 2020: Advocates Mourn Another Incarcerated Person Dead of COVID-19, in Wende Prison, and Amid Rising Death Toll, Renew Call for Emergency Action »
  • About Us
  • Our Work
  • Press
  • Resources
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 RAPP Campaign · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme