Puerto Rico, Protest, Prison: Johanna Fernández and Jose Saldaña Talk About The Young Lords
Johanna Fernández, Jose Saldańa, susie day, CounterPumch — Commemorating Johanna Fernández • her interview with RAPP’s Jose Saldaña, conducted in 2020
Lawmakers pass Medicaid bill for released detainees, but no movement on parole for elderly
Ethan Geringer-Sameth, Crain's NY Business — State lawmakers passed a bill to help incarcerated individuals receive Medicaid coverage upon release, but did nothing for aging prisoners wasting away behind bars and racking up the state’s medical tab...
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....
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....
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...
Arrecian llamado a aprobar ley de excarcelación y mejoras a condiciones de reclusos en NY
Edwin Martínez / El Diario — Líderes políticos y defensores exigen que se dé luz verde a un paquete de normativas que busca liberar a internos que ya pagaron por sus delitos...
Prison reformers want more accountability at DOCCS
Johan Sheridan / NEWS10-Nexstar — A coalition of advocacy groups has accused New York's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) of ongoing staff violence and systematic violations of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Law (HALT Act). The groups cited several deaths in state-run prisons, including the 2022 waterboarding death of Ladale Kennedy at Upstate Correctional Facility and the 2024 beating and death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility. The coalition also condemned visitation restrictions and a ban on family care packages...
Advocates criticize GOP walkout at Muntaqim forum
Kerria Weaver/ Democrat & Chronicle — When Jalil Abdul Muntaqim took the podium to address the lawmakers during the public forum section of the Monroe County Legislature meeting, several Republican legislators walked out of the chamber...
Advocates Demand Answers as State Prisons Face Scrutiny After Deaths
Reuven Blau / The City — A coalition of more than 50 advocacy organizations is urging New York lawmakers to scrutinize the state’s prison system, pressing for answers about alleged brutality, deaths behind bars and violations of solitary confinement reforms as the legislature weighs more than $4 billion in funding...
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...
East Harlem lawmaker says he isn’t safe in NY State Assembly
Gothamist / Jimmy Vielkind — Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs says he no longer feels safe in his legislative chamber after an altercation with another lawmaker last year...
When Prison Body Scanners Mistake Tampons and Piercings for Contraband
New York Times / Wesley Parnell — Women hoping to visit their loved ones at New York prisons are being turned away after scanners pick up what they say are menstrual products. Some have had their visitation rights suspended...