Tandy Lau

Parole reform inches closer as proponents push lawmakers

May 28, 2026 by susie day

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....

Why aging in NYS prisons is becoming more commonplace

March 12, 2026 by susie day

Tandy Lau / NY Amsterdam News — Last month, Greg Mingo, a formerly incarcerated activist, was enlisted to advocate for Morris Grady, who, at age 71, was serving a sentence in Ulster County’s Eastern Correctional Facility. He immediately agreed to pen a letter, but Grady died a day later. “[His wife] asked me Thursday, and he passed away Friday,” recalled Mingo...

Blueprint for resolving NYS prison crisis draws political support

March 27, 2025 by susie day

Tandy Lau / Amsterdam News — The Justice Policy Institute’s (JPI) newest report titled “A Moment of Reckoning,” which delineates a criminal justice reform gameplan toward ending the state’s ongoing prison crisis and was released on March 13, is gaining support...

Parole release racial gap widens under Hochul, says NYU report

January 16, 2025 by susie day

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...