RAPP Campaign
Release Aging People in Prison Campaign
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....
Tom Eschen / CBS 6 ALBANY WRGB — A discrepancy with "no rational explanation" is causing criminal justice advocates to call for Governor Kathy Hochul to make changes to New York's parole board, and for the legislature to pass parole reform bills this session...
[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...
Johan Sheridan / News10 ABC — ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) Lawmakers, activists, and families of incarcerated New Yorkers gathered Tuesday at the New York State Capitol to demand that the State Legislature pass a pair of parole reform bills. The “Parole Justice for Our Futures” rally called for policies that prioritize rehabilitation without compromising community safety...
Tandy Lau / NY Amsterdam News — Last fall, NYU School of Law’s Center on Race Inequity and the Law released findings on how the state parole board was significantly more likely to deny non-white people their release, particularly under Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration between the beginning of 2022 and June 2024. The report’s updated version, which includes numbers all the way until Sept. 2024, was provided to the Amsterdam News...
Luis Lombardi / Hoodline New York City — Advocates for criminal justice reform are actively campaigning in New York for significant changes to the parole system, anticipated to reshape the roadmap for incarcerated individuals' release in 2025...
Arun Venugopal / Gothamist — Criminal justice reform advocates in New York are making their case for fixes to the parole system in 2025...
BK Reader Staff / BK Reader — A report by the New York University School of Law’s Center on Race, Inequality and the Law flagged racial disparities in the New York State Parole Board's release decisions...
Robert Abruzzese / Brooklyn Daily Eagle — A recent report by NYU Law’s Center on Race, Inequality & the Law, titled “Freedom Delayed, Justice Denied: Increasing Racial Disparities in New York State’s Parole Release Decisions,” highlights significant racial disparities in parole release rates in New York State...
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."
