RAPP Campaign

Release Aging People in Prison Campaign

Elder Parole Bill

Parole reform inches closer as proponents push lawmakers

Tandy Lau, Amsterdam News — Legislation supporting parole reform in New York State is gaining momentum, signaling good news for advocates who are seeking to reduce deaths through releasing incarcerated people before their maximum sentence if they can demonstrate their rehabilitation. As the Amsterdam News reported recently, 2026 marks the deadliest start in Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) facilities in the past six years and how some advocates are fighting to ensure recent oversight laws are enacted....

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Hochul grants 19 pardons

Johan Sheridan, WWLP-22News — NY Governor Kathy Hochul pardoned 19 formerly incarcerated individuals, but faced criticism from criminal justice advocates for not commuting the sentences of anyone currently incarcerated, especially women in honor of Mother's Day. As of May 2026, the state's prison system houses 34,066 inmates, and prison reformers are raising alarms about increasing deaths within state prison facilities....

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New York Parole Bills Over Early Release of Aging Inmates Trigger Sharp Divide: ‘We Will Fight Tooth and Nail’

Front Page Detective Staff, Front Page Detectives — Two proposed New York bills have led to a divide among lawmakers and experts. The state is planning to introduce the Elder Parole and Fair and Timely Parole legislation to ease parole eligibility requirements for the aging prison population...

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Aging Prisoners in New York Cost State Millions Despite Low Reoffense Rates

Owen Young / Vanguard — (ALBANY, N.Y.) New York State spent a record $450.6 million on prison healthcare in 2025, according to a February report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, even as the aging incarcerated population driving these costs reoffends at some of the lowest rates in the system and continues to be denied parole at increasing rates...

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Formerly incarcerated man advocates with Orange County legislator

Vandana Saras / Middletown Times-Herald — Gabrielle Hill, the newly elected Orange County Legislator for District 6, met Alton Lee during her election campaign. Lee, who works as a Hudson Valley community leader at Release Aging People in Prison, handed her a postcard that she said read: The bills will reunite families, make our community safer and save $522 million a year...

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