MONDAY, October 19, 2020: 13 Groups Demand Gov. Cuomo, State Lawmakers Take Immediate Action to Release Incarcerated People in Wake of Another COVID-19 Death And Second Wave of Cases in NYS Prisons For Immediate Release
SUNDAY, October 11, 2020 • Criminal Justice Advocates Discover “Missing Chapter” of Governor Cuomo’s Book, Call on Him to Address the COVID-19 Crisis Behind Bars. For Immediate Release
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2020: “The Missing Chapter: Governor Cuomo’s Failure to Protect Incarcerated New Yorkers from COVID-19” This is the chapter missing from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New Book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From The COVID-19 Pandemic.”
TUESDAY, September 22, 9:00 am • In Advance of NYS Senate Hearing on COVID-19 in Prisons and Jails, Advocates Hold a Virtual Press Conference Demanding More Releases, Better Conditions for Incarcerated New Yorkers • READ the written testimony and recommendations of Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP and Parole Preparation Project
SUNDAY, September 13, 2020, 1:00 pm • Attica is Now! rallies in NYC (Foley Square) and Albany (West Capitol Park) demand justice for incarcerated New Yorkers • Press Release
• WATCH the zoom recording here (rally starts at 0:14:39) •
WEDNESDAY, August 19, 2020, 10:00 am • People’s Hearing on COVID-19 and Prisons and Jails • Press Release – hearing sponsored by Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, #HALTsolitary Campaign, FWD.us, and Center for Community Alternatives • View the recorded hearing HERE
Wednesday, July 29, 2020: STATEMENT: RAPP CAMPAIGN CALLS OUT AG WILLIAM BARR’S COMMENTS ON SENTENCING OLDER PEOPLE TO PRISON (See Barr’s comments via Twitter)
Tuesday, July 21, 2020, Justice Advocates Held Press Conference to End 24-Hour Demonstration in Albany Laying Body Bags on State Capitol Steps (Recorded Zoom link here)
Monday, July 20, 2020: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Justice Advocates Launch 24-Hour Demonstration at NY State Capitol to Demand Lawmakers Pass Prison Reform Bill Package (Recorded Zoom link here)
MONDAY, July 6, 2020: Local Activists and Criminal Justice Reform Advocates Host Press Conference at Adirondack CF Calling on Gov. Cuomo and State Legislative Leaders to Release Everyone From New Prison Nursing Home Press Release; WATCH recorded video here
THURSDAY, July 2, 2020: Amid Calls for Racial Justice and Defunding Police, Gov. Cuomo Plans to Roll Back Bail Reforms and Increase NY’s Incarcerated Population Press release (zoom recording HERE)
TUESDAY, June 2, 2020: In Wake of George Floyd Murder and Police Violence, Community Leaders Demand NY State Stand Against Racist State Violence Behind Bars • Press Release (Zoom for recorded press conference HERE; password: 8o^qLg.7)
MONDAY, May 18, 2020: Ahead of NY State Legislative Hearing on COVID-19’s Impact on Communities of Color, Black and Latinx Community Leaders Hold Virtual Press Conference to Call Out Legislative Leaders for Excluding Mass Incarceration Issues and Demand the Legislature Reconvene to Pass Urgent, Life-Saving Measures – Media Advisory Watch recorded video HERE (password: 5F.56%K2)
THURSDAY, May 7, 2020: In Wake of More COVID-19 Deaths, Advocates Hold Two-Day Vigil Outside Fishkill CF and Burial Grounds • Media Advisory (Front page photo by Walter Hergt)
THURSDAY, April 16, 2020: “People’s Briefing” Demands Gov. Cuomo Take Immediate Steps to Address Public Health Crisis Unfolding in State’s Jails, Prisons, and Detention Centers (Media Advisory) • WATCH the archived video HERE
TUESDAY, April 14, 2020: Advocates Slam Governor Cuomo for Playing God with Peoples’ Lives After He Releases a Select Few Incarcerated Older New Yorkers (See HERE for Cuomo release announcement via NY Post)
TUESDAY, April 14, 2020: Gov. Cuomo’s Inaction Leads to Death of 4th Incarcerated New Yorker
• Monday, April 6, 2020 • Status of the NYS Prisons and the need for Gov. Cuomo to Grant Clemency to elders and other incarcerated people vulnerable to coronavirus complications • COVID-19 Briefing,
More News & Statements from RAPP on the urgent need to release elders and other incarcerated people vulnerable to illness and death from the coronavirus
FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020, 12:00 pm • Press Conference outside Sing Sing CF in response to first incarcerated person’s death from COVID-19 • Demand Gov. Cuomo release all vulnerable people • PRESS RELEASE HERE
WATCH the video here
(photo courtesy Andrew Courtney)
MONDAY, March 30, 2020, 12:00 pm • Virtual Press Conference featuring families of incarcerated people, public health experts, and advocates calling on Governor Cuomo to act now as the COVID-19 crisis hits NYS prisons, endangering elders and other New Yorkers behind bars vulnerable to the virus. VIDEO HERE
March 30 Virtual Press Conference PRESS RELEASE HERE
“Governor Cuomo is doing the right thing by bringing relief to 1,100 New Yorkers convicted of violating parole. We call on the governor to use this as the first step towards justice for far more incarcerated New Yorkers who are vulnerable to COVID-19. Thousands of elders and other New Yorkers with seriously compromised immune systems continue to languish in the governor’s prison system. The governor should grant them clemency now before it’s too late.”
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NEW! Releasing New Yorkers From Prison Is the Only Way to Save Lives in the Wake of COVID-19
Recommendations from RAPP and Parole Preparation Project (CLICK HERE for a two-page summary)
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Sign this petition:
Governor Cuomo Must Release Incarcerated Elders & Others Vulnerable to COVID-19
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March 17, 2020: Response to news that a CO from Sing Sing (Ossining CF) tested positive for coronavirus, March 17, 2020: click here
March 11, 2020: Conference & Statement: Health experts and advocates call for release of incarcerated people vulnerable to COVID-19 • March 11, 2020. New York, NY
PRESS RELEASE: Wednesday, March 11, 2020
CONTACT: Dave George 631-885-3565 / ddgeorge23@gmail.com;
Nick Encalada-Malinowski 347-259-4835 / nick@vocal-ny.org
Livestream from press conference here
In Wake of Coronavirus Outbreak, Health Experts, Advocates and Elected Officials call on Gov. Cuomo to Release Incarcerated People Vulnerable to Virus
The Group Held a Press Conference to Call on Cuomo to Grant Emergency Clemencies to Older and Sick New Yorkers in Prison
Anthony Dixon, Director of the Community Engagement, the Parole Preparation Project
New York, NY – March 11, 2020 –Today, public health experts, elected officials, and advocacy organizations, including the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, VOCAL-NY, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, and Worth Rises held a press conference on the steps of New York City Hall in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. The group called on Governor Cuomo and the state legislature to take immediate action in support of incarcerated people and their families by granting clemencies to vulnerable people in prison, including older and sick incarcerated people.
The group also called on the legislature to take immediate action by passing Elder Parole (S.2144/A.9040) and the Fair and Timely Parole Act (S.497A/A.4346A), and to ensure that prison phone calls and visiting are accessible to people in prison and their families as the virus continues to spread. They also called for an end to prison labor exploitation and for the labor of incarcerated people to be fully compensated.
Jose Saldana, Director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign said, “Medical Reports are warning that the Coronavirus is potentially fatal for the elderly, especially those with chronic health conditions and compromised immunes systems. What will Governor Cuomo do to protect the lives of the more than 10,000 elderly men and women incarcerated in prisons across the state? Hopefully, he does more than they had done for the roughly 675 elderly men and women who have died in prisons across the state in the last nine years. We call on the governor to start the process of extending clemencies to the vulnerable elderly incarcerated men and women in state prisons, who are facing death during this serious time.”
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement, “The spread of Coronavirus seems to be growing from concern to urgency and could become a full-blown health crisis in New York. There is a population that’s uniquely vulnerable that we need to remember: older and seriously ill people in our prisons. Once the virus spreads to our prisons, older incarcerated people and those with preexisting health problems will be in the virus’s crosshairs and the prisons will not have the capacity to care for them. Now would be a good time for Governor Cuomo to consider the clemency petitions of these vulnerable incarcerated people. My office stands ready to assist the governor in the consideration of these petitions for those from Brooklyn.”
Oliver Fein, M.D. and Chair of the Board for Physicians for National Health Program – NY Metro chapter said in a statement,“The threat of the Coronavirus pandemic is particularly high in prison settings. Prison environments are similar to nursing home environments, where residents are in close contact on a daily basis. Given the Kirkland, Washington experience, in which 18 residents of a nursing home have died from Coronavirus infection, it is reasonable to be concerned that the elderly and sickest populations in prisons are also at high risk. Release of such vulnerable incarcerated people is a moral imperative.“
Jack Beck, corrections health expert and former Director of the Prison Visiting Project at the Correctional Association of New York said, “It is just a matter of time before this virus enters New York State prisons and jails. When it does, it will inevitably spread. Prisons are not built to control and prevent the spread of viruses. We should take the affirmative step of releasing older people and others who are vulnerable to contract this virus when it begins to enter the prison system.
Allen Roskoff, President of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club said, “Governor Cuomo must release the elderly and sick from prison to avoid a likely potential catastrophic outbreak that cannot be controlled behind prison walls. The governor must send the elderly home where they can be protected from illness before it is too late. If Governor Cuomo fails to act, needless deaths will occur to the incarcerated, prison staff and thus to those throughout New York. In this health emergency caused by the coronaries virus pandemic, these humane measures must be implemented with great haste.
Anthony Dixon, Director of Community Engagement for the Parole Preparation Project said, “Rather than release or issue executive clemencies to elderly incarcerated people with the stroke of the pen, so that millions of dollars can be added to his war chest for combating the coronavirus, the Governor is instead resorting to being a slave driver. Essentially, the governor is confronted with two crises, the coronavirus and a staggeringly 1 out of 5 people in New York state prisons being older adults. This crisis must be addressed.”
Bianca Tylek, Executive Director at Worth Rises said, “While our elders are languishing in prison under significant threat of a lethal illness, Governor Cuomo is gloating about having them mass produce hand sanitizer to protect the public all for as little as $0.26 per hour. The slave labor used in New York prisons is abhorrent every day, and even more so during a public health crisis. Governor Cuomo must release our elders and sick, and stop the abuse of prison labor by increasing incarcerated peoples’ wages.”
Martin Garcia, Community Coordinator at Worth Rises stated, “Governor Cuomo should take immediate action to make all communication in New York’s prisons free so that families can check on the health and wellbeing of their loved ones inside and vice versa. Crises like the Coronavirus pandemic simply illustrate why the ability for families to communicate is so important every day.”
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Candidate for New York State Assembly (AD-34) said, “This is a compounding crisis, a crisis of incarcerating elders who will end up dying in prison if we don’t release them. The Coronavirus will impact the vulnerable lives of our elders and immune-compromised people in prison. We demand that the governor release elders and those who are immune-compromised immediately. Queens demands that we have them home with their family, so that they can be safe and healthy. For the long-term, we must pass the Elder Parole Act and Fair and Timely Parole Act. When I’m elected to the state legislature, I will be a champion for this issue.”
On Monday, March 10th, Governor Cuomo announced that incarcerated people at Great Meadow Correctional Facility would produce hand sanitizer for New Yorkers across the state; a product they will likely be banned from using themselves. To date, Cuomo has not proposed or issued any orders to protect the health and well being of incarcerated New Yorkers who are particularly vulnerable to the virus.
Governor Cuomo has issued two clemencies to New Yorkers in prison in 2019 and 2020 combined, neither of which was given to older or sick incarcerated people. On February 18, 2020, President Trump issued four clemencies to people in federal prison, representing more commutations than Cuomo granted in the last two years. There are more than 10,000 older adults in the New York State prison system, including dozens who are confined in hospice units, units for the cognitively impaired, and regional medical units.
Jose Saldana, Director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign