This short documentary tells the story of how fourteen people in New York State control the freedom of tens of thousands of men and women. They are called the Parole Board and they determine whether people in prison with indefinite sentences are ready to be released. Every year 10,000 people are denied parole. Many people are denied repeatedly – for some, this can mean up to 20+ extra years in prison – due to the "nature of their crime," something they can never change.
Showing posts with label Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act. Show all posts
May 18, 2015
Nature of the Crime
Today, Monday May 18, the statewide Parole Justice Now! coalition is releasing their new film, "The Nature of the Crime," online in conjunction with its première in the state Capitol to pressure the legislature to pass the Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act.
This short documentary tells the story of how fourteen people in New York State control the freedom of tens of thousands of men and women. They are called the Parole Board and they determine whether people in prison with indefinite sentences are ready to be released. Every year 10,000 people are denied parole. Many people are denied repeatedly – for some, this can mean up to 20+ extra years in prison – due to the "nature of their crime," something they can never change.
This short documentary tells the story of how fourteen people in New York State control the freedom of tens of thousands of men and women. They are called the Parole Board and they determine whether people in prison with indefinite sentences are ready to be released. Every year 10,000 people are denied parole. Many people are denied repeatedly – for some, this can mean up to 20+ extra years in prison – due to the "nature of their crime," something they can never change.
February 01, 2014
Current material on parole
For excellent sources of current material on parole and the need for parole reform please see:
* Building Bridges, the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network. Contains up to date news, campaigns, reports and statistics on parole, as well as regular updates on the progress of the Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act from the NYS Parole Reform Campaign.
* Petition for change, by The Riverside Church Prison Ministry:
Governor Andrew Cuomo: ESTABLISH A COMMISSION ON PAROLE TO END PAROLE ABUSES AND REUNITE FAMILIES
* New York's Broken Parole System (New York Times, February 16 2014)
* Public Comments in Support of Parole Reform (Correctional Association of New York, January 2014)
Testimonies from the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction's Public Hearing on Parole Reform, December 4 2013:
* Professor Philip Genty Testifies on Parole Procedures Before State Assembly's Correction Committee (Columbia Law School, December 6 2013) Includes full text of Professor Genty's testimony before the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction on December 4 2013
* Parole Review Process Has Serious Shortcomings, by Scott Paltrowitz (Correctional Association of New York, December 6 2013) Includes full text of the Correctional Association's testimony before the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction on December 4 2013
* Advocates Recite Shortcomings of N.Y. Parole Review Process, by John Caher (New York Law Journal, December 5 2013)
* Testimony of Mujahid Farid, head of the Release of Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign, before the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction on December 4 2013
* Testimony of Tina M. Stanford, Chairwoman NYS Board of Parole, before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, Wednesday December 4 2013
* Testimony of Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, Wednesday December 4 2013
* Building Bridges, the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network. Contains up to date news, campaigns, reports and statistics on parole, as well as regular updates on the progress of the Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act from the NYS Parole Reform Campaign.
* Petition for change, by The Riverside Church Prison Ministry:
Governor Andrew Cuomo: ESTABLISH A COMMISSION ON PAROLE TO END PAROLE ABUSES AND REUNITE FAMILIES
* New York's Broken Parole System (New York Times, February 16 2014)
* Public Comments in Support of Parole Reform (Correctional Association of New York, January 2014)
Testimonies from the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction's Public Hearing on Parole Reform, December 4 2013:
* Professor Philip Genty Testifies on Parole Procedures Before State Assembly's Correction Committee (Columbia Law School, December 6 2013) Includes full text of Professor Genty's testimony before the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction on December 4 2013
* Parole Review Process Has Serious Shortcomings, by Scott Paltrowitz (Correctional Association of New York, December 6 2013) Includes full text of the Correctional Association's testimony before the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction on December 4 2013
* Advocates Recite Shortcomings of N.Y. Parole Review Process, by John Caher (New York Law Journal, December 5 2013)
* Testimony of Mujahid Farid, head of the Release of Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign, before the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction on December 4 2013
* Testimony of Tina M. Stanford, Chairwoman NYS Board of Parole, before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, Wednesday December 4 2013
* Testimony of Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, Wednesday December 4 2013
July 25, 2013
Building Bridges - July/August 2013 edition
The July/August edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, including updates about the NYS Parole Reform Campaign, ways to help and become involved.
1. Parole News - June releases, the First Department of NYS Supreme Court's Appellate Division overrules Judge Huff's ruling in the case of Kozlowski v. NYS Board of Parole.
2. Parole Reform Campaign - The Prison Ministry of the Riverside Church in New York City will launch their year-long campaign to overhaul New York's failed parole policies and practices with a weekend of inspiring performances, workshops, and worship. SAVE THE DATE: Nov 8-10. [To participate, please contact Sheila Rule, or call her at 877-267-2303.]
3. The status of the SAFE Parole Act after two Legislative Sessions.
4. Legislative Report on the status of the six bills, among those the Prison Action Network has been following, which passed in both houses.
5. Don't give up on Merle Cooper! Click here to sign the petition.
6. Prisoner Justice Network shines the light on the many struggles to put criminal justice and injustice on everyone's radar, nationally and globally. This visibility gives justice activists and advocates an opening to get out the truth about over-incarceration, racial targeting, and abusive prison conditions, and to organize for change and justice.
7. Ageing in Prison, a report by Karima Amin. Everyone loves grandma… and grandpa too. But when incarceration enters the mix, love and respect often disappear and attitudes change. This will be the topic at the next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too, on Monday, July 29 at 6:30pm.
8. Corey's Column: Your mind-set is the biggest challenge in succeeding at reintegration.
9. Hip-Hop for Prisoner Justice features artists from around the world to promote justice for prisoners. In Troy NY at Freedom Square, Saturday August 3, 5pm - 8:30pm.
10. Capital Region RJ Conference will discuss the effectiveness of restorative justice circles in both minor and serious criminal cases. September 20, 9am - 4pm in Saratoga Springs.
11. Baba Eng's message to us: A shift in perspective and paradigm is required to meaningfully address the effect(s) of the unjust application of criminal justice.
12. An updated, easy to understand, one page description of the SAFE Parole Act is available. If you would like a copy, please contact the Prison Action Network at prisonactionnetwork@gmail.com.
Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, including updates about the NYS Parole Reform Campaign, ways to help and become involved.
1. Parole News - June releases, the First Department of NYS Supreme Court's Appellate Division overrules Judge Huff's ruling in the case of Kozlowski v. NYS Board of Parole.
2. Parole Reform Campaign - The Prison Ministry of the Riverside Church in New York City will launch their year-long campaign to overhaul New York's failed parole policies and practices with a weekend of inspiring performances, workshops, and worship. SAVE THE DATE: Nov 8-10. [To participate, please contact Sheila Rule, or call her at 877-267-2303.]
3. The status of the SAFE Parole Act after two Legislative Sessions.
4. Legislative Report on the status of the six bills, among those the Prison Action Network has been following, which passed in both houses.
5. Don't give up on Merle Cooper! Click here to sign the petition.
6. Prisoner Justice Network shines the light on the many struggles to put criminal justice and injustice on everyone's radar, nationally and globally. This visibility gives justice activists and advocates an opening to get out the truth about over-incarceration, racial targeting, and abusive prison conditions, and to organize for change and justice.
7. Ageing in Prison, a report by Karima Amin. Everyone loves grandma… and grandpa too. But when incarceration enters the mix, love and respect often disappear and attitudes change. This will be the topic at the next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too, on Monday, July 29 at 6:30pm.
8. Corey's Column: Your mind-set is the biggest challenge in succeeding at reintegration.
9. Hip-Hop for Prisoner Justice features artists from around the world to promote justice for prisoners. In Troy NY at Freedom Square, Saturday August 3, 5pm - 8:30pm.
10. Capital Region RJ Conference will discuss the effectiveness of restorative justice circles in both minor and serious criminal cases. September 20, 9am - 4pm in Saratoga Springs.
11. Baba Eng's message to us: A shift in perspective and paradigm is required to meaningfully address the effect(s) of the unjust application of criminal justice.
12. An updated, easy to understand, one page description of the SAFE Parole Act is available. If you would like a copy, please contact the Prison Action Network at prisonactionnetwork@gmail.com.
June 25, 2013
Building Bridges - June/July 2013 edition
The June/July edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, including details of the new Parole Board Commissioners appointed on June 19th, and updates from the NYS Parole Reform Campaign.
1. The legislative session is over. So unless the governor calls a special session before then, no more bills will be passed before January 2014. That includes the SAFE Parole Act. The bills introduced in June include some that passed both houses. Summer Strategies. Viewpoint from Inside questions the motivation for sex offender bills.
2. The highly successful Merle Cooper Program is slated for closure on September 1. Read this letter from Ronald Hughes, a participant in the program and if it inspires you to take action, consider signing this petition to stop the closure of the program that many people credit for being the key to their transformation.
3. The SAFE Parole Act ended the session with fourteen sponsors in the Assembly and four in the Senate. We have a lot of work to do, but it can be done if you join us. We have an easy letter writing initiative, and we'll help you plan a visit to your representatives' district offices this summer.
4. Parole News: May release statistics. Detailed biographies of the newly appointed Parole Board Commissioners including notes from their confirmation hearing. Another positive ruling in favor of the plaintiff in a parole board case was handed down in Manhattan Supreme Court: Kozlowski v. New York State Board of Parole, 104097/2012, New York State Supreme Court, NY County (Manhattan).
5. Corey Parks asks us to join him to 'Accomplish Peace, Not Violence' and learn to build up our communities after being conditioned to destroy them.
6. Eddie Ellis has been interviewed by the Sun Magazine.
7. Baba Eng finally is back in New York State. He was the guest speaker at the June 24th meeting of Prisoners Are People Too, which was also celebrating the organization's 8th anniversary.
Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, including details of the new Parole Board Commissioners appointed on June 19th, and updates from the NYS Parole Reform Campaign.
1. The legislative session is over. So unless the governor calls a special session before then, no more bills will be passed before January 2014. That includes the SAFE Parole Act. The bills introduced in June include some that passed both houses. Summer Strategies. Viewpoint from Inside questions the motivation for sex offender bills.
2. The highly successful Merle Cooper Program is slated for closure on September 1. Read this letter from Ronald Hughes, a participant in the program and if it inspires you to take action, consider signing this petition to stop the closure of the program that many people credit for being the key to their transformation.
3. The SAFE Parole Act ended the session with fourteen sponsors in the Assembly and four in the Senate. We have a lot of work to do, but it can be done if you join us. We have an easy letter writing initiative, and we'll help you plan a visit to your representatives' district offices this summer.
4. Parole News: May release statistics. Detailed biographies of the newly appointed Parole Board Commissioners including notes from their confirmation hearing. Another positive ruling in favor of the plaintiff in a parole board case was handed down in Manhattan Supreme Court: Kozlowski v. New York State Board of Parole, 104097/2012, New York State Supreme Court, NY County (Manhattan).
5. Corey Parks asks us to join him to 'Accomplish Peace, Not Violence' and learn to build up our communities after being conditioned to destroy them.
6. Eddie Ellis has been interviewed by the Sun Magazine.
7. Baba Eng finally is back in New York State. He was the guest speaker at the June 24th meeting of Prisoners Are People Too, which was also celebrating the organization's 8th anniversary.
May 15, 2013
Letters supporting parole reform and the proposed SAFE Parole Act
Recent letters supporting parole reform and the pending legislation, Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act A4108/S1128, published by the Times Union:
Welcome parolees back into the community, by Judith Brink (Times Union, May 31 2013)
The parole board is not a resentencing body, by Judith Brink (Times Union, May 10 2013)
Parole board role is misunderstood, by Karen Kaufmann (Times Union, May 8 2013)
Bill would address parole procedures, by Anne Marie Haber (Times Union, May 7 2013)
Welcome parolees back into the community, by Judith Brink (Times Union, May 31 2013)
The parole board is not a resentencing body, by Judith Brink (Times Union, May 10 2013)
Parole board role is misunderstood, by Karen Kaufmann (Times Union, May 8 2013)
Bill would address parole procedures, by Anne Marie Haber (Times Union, May 7 2013)
April 25, 2013
Building Bridges - April/May 2013 edition
The April/May edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, ways to help and get involved.
1. Especially if you're a veteran who's done time in prison, or are the family member of an incarcerated veteran, you will welcome this opportunity to do some important healing - not only of your own pain, but of the system that then landed you in prison - in a luxurious setting, with all expenses except your transportation paid. All veterans and their families are invited!
2. Legislation considered in both houses of our legislature reveals the progress of our movement to make change in the legal system that controls our lives. Merit time bill is defeated.
3. Second Look Think Tank at Sullivan met with retiring DOCCS Commissioner Fischer and Vanda Seward, Director of Statewide Reentry Services, for a discussion of issues that affect all stakeholders in the reintegration process.
4. Parole News: March releases; Volunteer wanted to help with statistics; Morris’s judicial victory validates that the Parole Board deliberately holds some people in prison despite their readiness for reentry; Howard Marnell's case and rescission hearing; advice on meeting appeal deadlines; Legal Aid Society wins Article 78 claiming Division of Parole used illegal tactics to avoid FOIL disclosures.
5. Preceding Michelle Alexander's presentation at Hamilton College, the NYS Prisoner Justice Network held a meet-up for its statewide membership to describe their roles in this growing movement for justice; your group, including organizations from inside prisons, is invited to be listed in their revised 2013/2014 Prisoner Justice Network Directory.
6. The NYS Parole Reform Campaign has revitalized their attempts to convince NYS legislators to do what so many New Yorkers understand is the morally correct thing to do, pass the SAFE Parole Act. It is time the Parole Board has legislation that allows them to fully commit their attention to evaluating the risks an applicant poses to his or her community.
7. Buffalo's Prisoners Are People Too, Inc. will meet on April 29 to discuss the stigma that exists throughout our communities and taints the decisions designed to provide "justice for all".
8. RAPP and DTR join in taking on the critical issue of people ageing and dying in prison.
9. Cory Parks points out the importance of self-reflection to our health and our vocational success.
10. Job opportunities in Albany NY.
11. Mothers of Bedford screening in Hudson NY follows women who are learning to provide their children with positive nurturing even from behind bars.
12. Keeping Jerry Balone's memory alive begins by sharing our stories of his impact on our lives. It will appear monthly in these pages as long as the stories keep coming.
13. Our actions are the seeds of our children's futures. A 12 year old child asks her advocate mother why there are so many black people in prison. Many who are decades older have yet to pose that important question.
14. Needle Wizards can't have crochet hooks in the colors reserved for prison staff only. Imagine confusing a crochet hook with a correctional officer!
Prison Action Network's brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and their current news about parole, ways to help and get involved.
1. Especially if you're a veteran who's done time in prison, or are the family member of an incarcerated veteran, you will welcome this opportunity to do some important healing - not only of your own pain, but of the system that then landed you in prison - in a luxurious setting, with all expenses except your transportation paid. All veterans and their families are invited!
2. Legislation considered in both houses of our legislature reveals the progress of our movement to make change in the legal system that controls our lives. Merit time bill is defeated.
3. Second Look Think Tank at Sullivan met with retiring DOCCS Commissioner Fischer and Vanda Seward, Director of Statewide Reentry Services, for a discussion of issues that affect all stakeholders in the reintegration process.
4. Parole News: March releases; Volunteer wanted to help with statistics; Morris’s judicial victory validates that the Parole Board deliberately holds some people in prison despite their readiness for reentry; Howard Marnell's case and rescission hearing; advice on meeting appeal deadlines; Legal Aid Society wins Article 78 claiming Division of Parole used illegal tactics to avoid FOIL disclosures.
5. Preceding Michelle Alexander's presentation at Hamilton College, the NYS Prisoner Justice Network held a meet-up for its statewide membership to describe their roles in this growing movement for justice; your group, including organizations from inside prisons, is invited to be listed in their revised 2013/2014 Prisoner Justice Network Directory.
6. The NYS Parole Reform Campaign has revitalized their attempts to convince NYS legislators to do what so many New Yorkers understand is the morally correct thing to do, pass the SAFE Parole Act. It is time the Parole Board has legislation that allows them to fully commit their attention to evaluating the risks an applicant poses to his or her community.
7. Buffalo's Prisoners Are People Too, Inc. will meet on April 29 to discuss the stigma that exists throughout our communities and taints the decisions designed to provide "justice for all".
8. RAPP and DTR join in taking on the critical issue of people ageing and dying in prison.
9. Cory Parks points out the importance of self-reflection to our health and our vocational success.
10. Job opportunities in Albany NY.
11. Mothers of Bedford screening in Hudson NY follows women who are learning to provide their children with positive nurturing even from behind bars.
12. Keeping Jerry Balone's memory alive begins by sharing our stories of his impact on our lives. It will appear monthly in these pages as long as the stories keep coming.
13. Our actions are the seeds of our children's futures. A 12 year old child asks her advocate mother why there are so many black people in prison. Many who are decades older have yet to pose that important question.
14. Needle Wizards can't have crochet hooks in the colors reserved for prison staff only. Imagine confusing a crochet hook with a correctional officer!
February 16, 2013
The Safe And Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act S1128/A4108: an update
Below is an encouraging update on the progress of the SAFE Parole Act, given by the Prison Action Network:
The Safe And Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act S1128/A4108
"There is good news! Much to our surprise, the SAFE Parole Act was introduced by Senator Kevin Parker (without even being asked!) and given its 2013 number, S1128. A few days later, Senator Kennedy signed on. In the Assembly, Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry sponsored it and it was given the number, A4108. Multi-sponsors Brennan, Crespo, Farrell, Gottfried, Scarborough, and co-sponsors Hevesi, Stevenson, and Clark also signed on.
Newly appointed to the leadership of the Assembly as the Speaker Pro Tempore, Jeffrion Aubry is no longer on the Corrections Committee, but is a member of the Assembly's Codes committee. He has been replaced as the Chair of the Assembly's Corrections Committee by Daniel O'Donnell, who signed on to the SAFE Parole Act last session, and hopefully will again this year.
Prison Action Network visited with Senator Parker and together we designed a strategy, which is basically to intensify what we have already been doing, sending our stories to Committees in both houses, and then to our own representatives, with copies sent to Senator Parker to show his colleagues how much support there is. He is not on the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, but he is on Finance and Rules where many bills have to pass before going before the Senate for a vote. Both houses need to pass the bill before it can become a law, and the Governor has to sign it."
The Safe And Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act S1128/A4108
"There is good news! Much to our surprise, the SAFE Parole Act was introduced by Senator Kevin Parker (without even being asked!) and given its 2013 number, S1128. A few days later, Senator Kennedy signed on. In the Assembly, Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry sponsored it and it was given the number, A4108. Multi-sponsors Brennan, Crespo, Farrell, Gottfried, Scarborough, and co-sponsors Hevesi, Stevenson, and Clark also signed on.
Newly appointed to the leadership of the Assembly as the Speaker Pro Tempore, Jeffrion Aubry is no longer on the Corrections Committee, but is a member of the Assembly's Codes committee. He has been replaced as the Chair of the Assembly's Corrections Committee by Daniel O'Donnell, who signed on to the SAFE Parole Act last session, and hopefully will again this year.
Prison Action Network visited with Senator Parker and together we designed a strategy, which is basically to intensify what we have already been doing, sending our stories to Committees in both houses, and then to our own representatives, with copies sent to Senator Parker to show his colleagues how much support there is. He is not on the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, but he is on Finance and Rules where many bills have to pass before going before the Senate for a vote. Both houses need to pass the bill before it can become a law, and the Governor has to sign it."
February 15, 2013
Building Bridges - February 2013 edition
The February edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Their brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and ways to help.
1. Legislation: update on the SAFE Parole Act; bills that were voted on by the NYS Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee at their meeting on February 6.
2. Parole News: a summary of 2012 releases. At the NYS Budget hearings on Public Safety on February 6, 2013 it was announced that Parole Board Chair Andrea Evans' term had expired. It is not clear whether she will stay on until her replacement is named and/or if she will be remaining as a Commissioner.
3. Veterans Day weekend conference, When Johnny Comes Marching Home...and Gets Arrested - From Honor to Dishonor and Back, will focus on the special needs of incarcerated War Veterans.
4. A Prison Is Not a Nursing Home: The Incarceration of the Elderly in New York State, a report by the New York State Prisoner Justice Network. The NYS Prisoner Justice Network calls on readers to build a strong movement with a clear message: people in prison, like those on the outside, deserve respect and decent care in their old age, and elders who pose no danger to the community should be released.
5. An invitation to join a group of advocates on March 2 to discuss the release of ageing people from prison.
6. Job opportunities for people with criminal histories and a good education.
7. Corey Parks is now working for Harlem SNUG, and shares with readers what SNUG is and does.
8. The Reentry Roundtable on February 20 will focus on legislative proposals that address barriers to effective reentry. Anita Marton and Kate Rubin will be the guest speakers.
9. An evening of film and theater on February 27 will make a case for providing access to higher education for people in prison.
10. Prison Voices Project, airing on WGXC, 90.7 FM, has a new time slot and a website. The producer is reaching out to incarcerated artists for a website logo.
11. Albany's Center for Law and Justice is presenting a ten week film series, starting on February 21, to present the story of the African American presence and experience in the Americas.
12. SAVE the dates! On April 5 and 6, Columbia University students will be presenting their third annual Criminal Justice Conference. Don't miss an event that gets better every year!
13. Visit the reentry.net/ny calendar for more events in your area.
Their brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details and ways to help.
1. Legislation: update on the SAFE Parole Act; bills that were voted on by the NYS Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee at their meeting on February 6.
2. Parole News: a summary of 2012 releases. At the NYS Budget hearings on Public Safety on February 6, 2013 it was announced that Parole Board Chair Andrea Evans' term had expired. It is not clear whether she will stay on until her replacement is named and/or if she will be remaining as a Commissioner.
3. Veterans Day weekend conference, When Johnny Comes Marching Home...and Gets Arrested - From Honor to Dishonor and Back, will focus on the special needs of incarcerated War Veterans.
4. A Prison Is Not a Nursing Home: The Incarceration of the Elderly in New York State, a report by the New York State Prisoner Justice Network. The NYS Prisoner Justice Network calls on readers to build a strong movement with a clear message: people in prison, like those on the outside, deserve respect and decent care in their old age, and elders who pose no danger to the community should be released.
5. An invitation to join a group of advocates on March 2 to discuss the release of ageing people from prison.
6. Job opportunities for people with criminal histories and a good education.
7. Corey Parks is now working for Harlem SNUG, and shares with readers what SNUG is and does.
8. The Reentry Roundtable on February 20 will focus on legislative proposals that address barriers to effective reentry. Anita Marton and Kate Rubin will be the guest speakers.
9. An evening of film and theater on February 27 will make a case for providing access to higher education for people in prison.
10. Prison Voices Project, airing on WGXC, 90.7 FM, has a new time slot and a website. The producer is reaching out to incarcerated artists for a website logo.
11. Albany's Center for Law and Justice is presenting a ten week film series, starting on February 21, to present the story of the African American presence and experience in the Americas.
12. SAVE the dates! On April 5 and 6, Columbia University students will be presenting their third annual Criminal Justice Conference. Don't miss an event that gets better every year!
13. Visit the reentry.net/ny calendar for more events in your area.
December 16, 2012
Building Bridges - December 2012 edition
The December edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Their brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details:
1. Bring Back the Buses - DOCCS free bus service was created to support rehabilitation by strengthening family ties.
2. Calendar of Events - for family members and anyone else who wants to get involved in changing the criminal justice system.
3. "Central Park 5" documentary, now showing at commercial theaters, exposes the corruption that poisons our criminal justice system.
4. Corey's column describes his struggle to succeed in the face of incomplete freedom.
5. Educational and vocational programs were the topic at a hearing with the NYS Assembly's Corrections Committee where Glenn Martin shared the testimony of Fortune Society clients.
6. Fortune in My Eyes describes how the Fortune Society was conceived in the theater.
7. Getting out and staying out. Parole Board obstacles, community obstacles, and how to help overcome them.
8. A conversation about the impact of political imprisonment and mass imprisonment on our families and our communities presented by the Sedou Odinga Defense Committee.
9. Job openings that don't discriminate against people with criminal records.
10. NYS Parole Reform Campaign. Let’s pass the SAFE Parole Act this year! It will take all of us working very hard. Will you help? Send us your pledge.
11. Parole News - October releases, updates on recent Judicial and Parole Board hearings and a report on the Amicus Brief filed by five past Parole Commissioners, in which they accuse the Parole Board of caving to outside pressure.
Douglas Thwaites was released in October, on his second appearance before the Parole Board, for deportation. On December 21, 2011, the court granted his Article 78 against the Parole Board. In his decision, Hon. Lawrence H. Ecker, J.S.C. accused the Board of employing past-focused rhetoric, not future-focused risk assessment analysis, thus failing to sustain a rational determination on the inquiry at hand: whether there is a reasonable probability that, if such inmate is released, he will live and remain at liberty without violating the law. The court found the Board's decision denying parole to be arbitrary and capricious, irrational, and improper and annulled the Board's determination, vacated the denial, and directed the board to, within 30 days *, hold a new hearing with a different panel of the Board. (*The Board did not comply with the 30 day time limit, and waited until October to give Mr. Thwaites another interview.)
12. Reentry Roundtable's 7th anniversary - join them for lunch and a talk on the importance of effective reentry services, by Rob Carmona.
13. Senate Shenanigans. No... let's upgrade that to Senate Insanity. Or a trip down the Rabbit hole. This year's NYS legislative practices are anyone's guess. We pray it may be a brand new day that restores justice, but it doesn't look promising.
14. In Our Name will be presenting a Veteran's Conference in May, focusing on the needs of homeless, substance abusing, and incarcerated veterans. Ed Tick, of Soldier's Heart, will join with other cutting edge professionals to talk about some effective interventions for PTSD.
Their brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details:
1. Bring Back the Buses - DOCCS free bus service was created to support rehabilitation by strengthening family ties.
2. Calendar of Events - for family members and anyone else who wants to get involved in changing the criminal justice system.
3. "Central Park 5" documentary, now showing at commercial theaters, exposes the corruption that poisons our criminal justice system.
4. Corey's column describes his struggle to succeed in the face of incomplete freedom.
5. Educational and vocational programs were the topic at a hearing with the NYS Assembly's Corrections Committee where Glenn Martin shared the testimony of Fortune Society clients.
6. Fortune in My Eyes describes how the Fortune Society was conceived in the theater.
7. Getting out and staying out. Parole Board obstacles, community obstacles, and how to help overcome them.
8. A conversation about the impact of political imprisonment and mass imprisonment on our families and our communities presented by the Sedou Odinga Defense Committee.
9. Job openings that don't discriminate against people with criminal records.
10. NYS Parole Reform Campaign. Let’s pass the SAFE Parole Act this year! It will take all of us working very hard. Will you help? Send us your pledge.
11. Parole News - October releases, updates on recent Judicial and Parole Board hearings and a report on the Amicus Brief filed by five past Parole Commissioners, in which they accuse the Parole Board of caving to outside pressure.
Douglas Thwaites was released in October, on his second appearance before the Parole Board, for deportation. On December 21, 2011, the court granted his Article 78 against the Parole Board. In his decision, Hon. Lawrence H. Ecker, J.S.C. accused the Board of employing past-focused rhetoric, not future-focused risk assessment analysis, thus failing to sustain a rational determination on the inquiry at hand: whether there is a reasonable probability that, if such inmate is released, he will live and remain at liberty without violating the law. The court found the Board's decision denying parole to be arbitrary and capricious, irrational, and improper and annulled the Board's determination, vacated the denial, and directed the board to, within 30 days *, hold a new hearing with a different panel of the Board. (*The Board did not comply with the 30 day time limit, and waited until October to give Mr. Thwaites another interview.)
12. Reentry Roundtable's 7th anniversary - join them for lunch and a talk on the importance of effective reentry services, by Rob Carmona.
13. Senate Shenanigans. No... let's upgrade that to Senate Insanity. Or a trip down the Rabbit hole. This year's NYS legislative practices are anyone's guess. We pray it may be a brand new day that restores justice, but it doesn't look promising.
14. In Our Name will be presenting a Veteran's Conference in May, focusing on the needs of homeless, substance abusing, and incarcerated veterans. Ed Tick, of Soldier's Heart, will join with other cutting edge professionals to talk about some effective interventions for PTSD.
June 14, 2012
Building Bridges - June 2012 edition
The June edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
A brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details:
* Attica, mass incarceration, solitary confinement, freeing Mumia and others are on the agenda for the September 14 event.
* Carl Berk's daughter Paula is writing a memoir of her father and would welcome any information you can provide. Please send your information to Paula via the Prison Action Network.
* Call for stories to be included in WORTH's Guidebook for women returning home from prison and jail.
* Cornell University confers Bachelor's degrees on 14 students confined at Auburn prison. On June 5, 2012, Auburn Correction Facility presented a commencement ceremony not seen since the early 90s, back when Pell grants propelled Syracuse University and Cayuga Community College to teach behind the walls of the prison. This memorable event, all supported by private donations, presented 15 students with Bachelor degrees from Cornell University in conjunction with Cayuga Community College.
* Domestic Violence Legislation is being obstructed by Senate Republicans. On May 30, the Senate Democratic Conference held a public forum on the need to provide additional protections for those affected by domestic violence. The forum was convened to highlight legislation sponsored by members of the Democratic Conference which the Senate Republican Majority has refused to move out of committee and bring to the floor for a vote. Attendees at the forum included Democratic Senators as well as activists, legislators and criminal justice professionals.
* Family Empowerment Day 5 is coming to the Buffalo-Niagara Region, on Friday October 5 and Saturday October 6.
* Geriatric Parole Release bill has been passed by the Assembly's Correction Committee:
A.9696 the NYS Program for Older Prisoners Act [No same as], March 27, 2012, introduced by Members of Assembly Aubry, Lentol, Millman.
Provides geriatric parole release to an inmate who is at least sixty years of age, is serving a determinate or indeterminate sentence of imprisonment, and has served at least one-half of the minimum period of his or her indeterminate sentence, or in the case of a determinate sentence, has served at least one-half of the term of his or her determinate sentence, provided, however, that no inmate serving a sentence imposed upon a conviction for murder in the first degree or an act of terrorism shall be eligible for such geriatric parole release. Such release shall be granted only after the board considers whether there is a reasonable probability that, if released, the inmate will live and remain at liberty without violating the law, and that such release is not incompatible with the welfare of society and will not so deprecate the seriousness of the crime as to undermine respect for the law.
* Jeffry Descovic uses settlement money to help others wrongfully convicted.
* Legislation: dozens of criminal justice bills were introduced at the Senate and Assembly Committee meetings, most of them are tabled for now. See Building Bridges for full details.
* NYS Parole Reform Campaign: their report on Advocacy Days, and a letter to the Governor:
"Soon after the NY Reentry Roundtable's Advocacy Day on May 15, The Safe and Fair Evaluations Parole Act gained 4 new sponsors: Senator Hassell-Thompson, Senator Serrano, Assembly members P. Rivera and Scarborough. There are now 9 sponsors in the Assembly and 7 in the Senate. Not bad for a bill that's only 1 year old! Readers who have called, written, or visited their legislators and/or shown up for Lobby Day events can take the credit for this. If any of the sponsors represent your district, please thank them. The more appreciation they get for doing the right thing, the less strength the bill's opponents have. Tom Duane, who introduced it in the Senate, is not seeking reelection so we will have to find another Senator to introduce it next year, as well as speak to A.M. Aubry about reintroducing it. We will miss Tom Duane; he has always been a champion of just causes. If you have any information on Brian Kavanaugh, Brad Holyman or Corey Johnson, who are rumored to be interested in running for his seat, please let us know. Prison Action Network is trying to find out where they stand in the battle over NYS criminal justice policies. Contact information for the last two would be especially appreciated. If you know any of them please ask them where, on a scale of 1 - 5 they stand: (1. being "lock em up and throw away the key" and 5. being "treat prisoners as you want them to treat us, and use evidence-based practices such as alternatives to prison whenever possible")."
See Building Bridges for the text of their letter to Governor Cuomo, urging the Senate and the Assembly to vote for the Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act, and for Cuomo to incorporate it into the 2013 Budget Act.
* Parole News - Expired terms and April parole releases.
* Prisoner Justice Network reports on their May 22 Prison and Parole Justice Day.
* Raise the age of criminal responsibility in NYS to 18. The Center for Community Alternatives and the NY Reentry Roundtable host discussions in June.
* Restoring Justice in America retreat offers scholarships to their weekend symposium in Greenwich N.Y.
* Transportation Service starts up in Albany.
A brief summary is given below. Please see Building Bridges for full details:
* Attica, mass incarceration, solitary confinement, freeing Mumia and others are on the agenda for the September 14 event.
* Carl Berk's daughter Paula is writing a memoir of her father and would welcome any information you can provide. Please send your information to Paula via the Prison Action Network.
* Call for stories to be included in WORTH's Guidebook for women returning home from prison and jail.
* Cornell University confers Bachelor's degrees on 14 students confined at Auburn prison. On June 5, 2012, Auburn Correction Facility presented a commencement ceremony not seen since the early 90s, back when Pell grants propelled Syracuse University and Cayuga Community College to teach behind the walls of the prison. This memorable event, all supported by private donations, presented 15 students with Bachelor degrees from Cornell University in conjunction with Cayuga Community College.
* Domestic Violence Legislation is being obstructed by Senate Republicans. On May 30, the Senate Democratic Conference held a public forum on the need to provide additional protections for those affected by domestic violence. The forum was convened to highlight legislation sponsored by members of the Democratic Conference which the Senate Republican Majority has refused to move out of committee and bring to the floor for a vote. Attendees at the forum included Democratic Senators as well as activists, legislators and criminal justice professionals.
* Family Empowerment Day 5 is coming to the Buffalo-Niagara Region, on Friday October 5 and Saturday October 6.
* Geriatric Parole Release bill has been passed by the Assembly's Correction Committee:
A.9696 the NYS Program for Older Prisoners Act [No same as], March 27, 2012, introduced by Members of Assembly Aubry, Lentol, Millman.
Provides geriatric parole release to an inmate who is at least sixty years of age, is serving a determinate or indeterminate sentence of imprisonment, and has served at least one-half of the minimum period of his or her indeterminate sentence, or in the case of a determinate sentence, has served at least one-half of the term of his or her determinate sentence, provided, however, that no inmate serving a sentence imposed upon a conviction for murder in the first degree or an act of terrorism shall be eligible for such geriatric parole release. Such release shall be granted only after the board considers whether there is a reasonable probability that, if released, the inmate will live and remain at liberty without violating the law, and that such release is not incompatible with the welfare of society and will not so deprecate the seriousness of the crime as to undermine respect for the law.
* Jeffry Descovic uses settlement money to help others wrongfully convicted.
* Legislation: dozens of criminal justice bills were introduced at the Senate and Assembly Committee meetings, most of them are tabled for now. See Building Bridges for full details.
* NYS Parole Reform Campaign: their report on Advocacy Days, and a letter to the Governor:
"Soon after the NY Reentry Roundtable's Advocacy Day on May 15, The Safe and Fair Evaluations Parole Act gained 4 new sponsors: Senator Hassell-Thompson, Senator Serrano, Assembly members P. Rivera and Scarborough. There are now 9 sponsors in the Assembly and 7 in the Senate. Not bad for a bill that's only 1 year old! Readers who have called, written, or visited their legislators and/or shown up for Lobby Day events can take the credit for this. If any of the sponsors represent your district, please thank them. The more appreciation they get for doing the right thing, the less strength the bill's opponents have. Tom Duane, who introduced it in the Senate, is not seeking reelection so we will have to find another Senator to introduce it next year, as well as speak to A.M. Aubry about reintroducing it. We will miss Tom Duane; he has always been a champion of just causes. If you have any information on Brian Kavanaugh, Brad Holyman or Corey Johnson, who are rumored to be interested in running for his seat, please let us know. Prison Action Network is trying to find out where they stand in the battle over NYS criminal justice policies. Contact information for the last two would be especially appreciated. If you know any of them please ask them where, on a scale of 1 - 5 they stand: (1. being "lock em up and throw away the key" and 5. being "treat prisoners as you want them to treat us, and use evidence-based practices such as alternatives to prison whenever possible")."
See Building Bridges for the text of their letter to Governor Cuomo, urging the Senate and the Assembly to vote for the Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act, and for Cuomo to incorporate it into the 2013 Budget Act.
* Parole News - Expired terms and April parole releases.
* Prisoner Justice Network reports on their May 22 Prison and Parole Justice Day.
* Raise the age of criminal responsibility in NYS to 18. The Center for Community Alternatives and the NY Reentry Roundtable host discussions in June.
* Restoring Justice in America retreat offers scholarships to their weekend symposium in Greenwich N.Y.
* Transportation Service starts up in Albany.
April 07, 2012
New York Still in Need of Parole Reform
An important article giving an overview of the need for parole reform has been published in the Spring 2012 issue of Atticus, produced by the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL).
Applying old backward-looking static factors while attempting to follow the new dynamic procedures for parole release decision-making based upon present and future-looking risk and needs principles creates a contradiction that the Parole Board will find very difficult to reconcile.
"Stated simply, the newly amended Executive Law § 259-c(4) is incompatible with the archaic Executive Law § 259-i. There is a significant contradiction between the old parole decision making factors in Executive Law § 259-i(2)(c)(A) and the newly amended forward-looking risk and needs principle shift contemplated by Executive Law § 259-c(4). Problematic decisions like the one in Matter of Thwaites will continue to trouble the courts and wreak havoc with parole release until Executive Law § 259-i is modernized. That is exactly what the SAFE Parole Act will do as it will eliminate the contradiction between the remnants of an old decision-making system that looks backward at the "seriousness of the crime" and a present and forward-looking procedure that relies on risk and needs principles."
For complete article:
New York Still in Need of Parole Reform, by Alan Rosenthal and Patricia Warth (Atticus, Volume 24 No.1, Spring 2012, pages 11-15)
March 14, 2012
Building Bridges - March 2012 edition
The March edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
This edition contains their report on several important bills voted for at the meeting of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee on March 7 including the Merit Time Bill (detailed in the introduction and in Article 5 of their newsletter). There are serious reservations about the possibility of the SAFE Parole Act becoming law while Michael Nozzolio is the chair of that committee, and the Prison Action Network explain why.
This is the result of the vote on the Merit Time Bill:
S329-2011*: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ELIGIBILITY FOR MERIT TIME
Sponsor: Montgomery, Co-sponsors: Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, Oppenheimer, Parker, Serrano
Allows certain inmates who are able to prove that they were subjected to substantial physical, sexual or psychological abuse, that the abuse was inflicted by a member of their same family or household or a member of the person's immediate family, and that the abuse was a substantial factor in causing them to commit the crime to be eligible to earn merit time in the amount of one-third off either their minimum sentence (if inmate has an indeterminate sentence) or their flat sentence; allows such inmates to be eligible for presumptive release; expands the criteria that a person in custody of the department of correctional services may meet in order to earn merit time. - NOT REPORTED (defeated)
S338-2011*: EXPANSION OF MERIT TIME
Sponsor: Montgomery, Co-sponsors: Dilan [Same as: A154-2011 - Aubry]
Relates to controlled substances and indeterminate sentences; relates to the expansion of merit time and repeals provisions relating to the allowance of limited credit time for inmates; to allow all inmates, except those serving a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, murder in the first degree, incest, an offense defined in article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law, an act of terrorism, aggravated harassment of an employee by an inmate, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit any such offense, to earn merit time allowance. The merit time allowance would be one-sixth of an indeterminate and one-seventh of a determinate sentence. This section of the bill also expands the criteria that a person in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) may meet in order to earn merit time. HELD
Other items discussed in the March newsletter include the following. See Building Bridges for full details:
1. ALBANY UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: A free workshop to develop legislative advocacy skills will involve interactive role play and practical tips.
2. THE BLACK, PUERTO RICAN, HISPANIC AND ASIAN CAUCUS's Criminal Justice Workshop series was a huge success and proof of the momentum that is building. People are realizing that incarceration is a justice issue, and in particular a racial justice issue.
3. CALL OUTS: A group of advocates is looking for those affected to join efforts to end the abuse of SHU. Cornell Law School is seeking interviews with formerly and currently incarcerated women about their experiences.
4. CAMPAIGN TO END THE NEW JIM CROW has issued a statement of solidarity with the Occupy movements. All of the 99% stand to win when injustice is uprooted.
5. Criminal Justice LEGISLATION was presented for a vote by the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee meeting on March 7. Listed are 22 of the bills including the votes. Prison Action Network was there. It was not a pleasant experience.
6. NY IS STILL IN NEED OF PAROLE REFORM Applying old backward-looking static factors while attempting to follow the new dynamic procedures for parole release decision-making based upon present and future-looking risk and needs principles creates a contradiction that the Parole Board will find very difficult to reconcile.
7. PAROLE NEWS: In January no A1VO was released on their initial board. 23% of those reappearing were granted release. Thwaites saw a de novo Board in March.
8. PRISONER JUSTICE COLUMN Last month's Mass Incarceration article reprinted including sections which were mistakenly omitted last month.
9. The National Action Network's Political Action & Second Chance Committees are hosting a ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS FORUM for those who want to know more about what the Rockefeller Drug Laws are, and about the Criminal Justice Reform Movement.
10. 2012 REMOVING THE BARS: "TAKE ACTION" Conference will include a Parole 101 panel discussion on Saturday March 24 from 2:15 to 3:45pm and a presentation by Angela Davis on Friday night.
11. SECOND LOOK THINK TANK from Sullivan C.F. concludes that New York State’s public safety levels—in other words, the recidivism rate—and the state’s fiscal hemorrhaging can be linked, at least in part, to the parole release decisions made by the Parole Board .
12. STAINS:CHANGING LIVES AFTER INCARCERATION is a documentary about life after incarceration, as seen from the families' perspective.
13. A COMMUNITY DIALOGUE ABOUT WOMEN AND REENTRY, Coming Home: Struggling Towards Success. Moderated by Piper Kerman, with panelists Tish, Selina Fulford, Mary McKay, Sister Mary Nerney. Special Guest Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.
14. WORK FOR SUCCESS, an initiative by Gov. Cuomo, is aimed at reducing unemployment rates for people returning home from prison. CEO will be the model program. Many advocates and legislators support this approach.
This edition contains their report on several important bills voted for at the meeting of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee on March 7 including the Merit Time Bill (detailed in the introduction and in Article 5 of their newsletter). There are serious reservations about the possibility of the SAFE Parole Act becoming law while Michael Nozzolio is the chair of that committee, and the Prison Action Network explain why.
This is the result of the vote on the Merit Time Bill:
S329-2011*: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ELIGIBILITY FOR MERIT TIME
Sponsor: Montgomery, Co-sponsors: Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, Oppenheimer, Parker, Serrano
Allows certain inmates who are able to prove that they were subjected to substantial physical, sexual or psychological abuse, that the abuse was inflicted by a member of their same family or household or a member of the person's immediate family, and that the abuse was a substantial factor in causing them to commit the crime to be eligible to earn merit time in the amount of one-third off either their minimum sentence (if inmate has an indeterminate sentence) or their flat sentence; allows such inmates to be eligible for presumptive release; expands the criteria that a person in custody of the department of correctional services may meet in order to earn merit time. - NOT REPORTED (defeated)
S338-2011*: EXPANSION OF MERIT TIME
Sponsor: Montgomery, Co-sponsors: Dilan [Same as: A154-2011 - Aubry]
Relates to controlled substances and indeterminate sentences; relates to the expansion of merit time and repeals provisions relating to the allowance of limited credit time for inmates; to allow all inmates, except those serving a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, murder in the first degree, incest, an offense defined in article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law, an act of terrorism, aggravated harassment of an employee by an inmate, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit any such offense, to earn merit time allowance. The merit time allowance would be one-sixth of an indeterminate and one-seventh of a determinate sentence. This section of the bill also expands the criteria that a person in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) may meet in order to earn merit time. HELD
Other items discussed in the March newsletter include the following. See Building Bridges for full details:
1. ALBANY UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: A free workshop to develop legislative advocacy skills will involve interactive role play and practical tips.
2. THE BLACK, PUERTO RICAN, HISPANIC AND ASIAN CAUCUS's Criminal Justice Workshop series was a huge success and proof of the momentum that is building. People are realizing that incarceration is a justice issue, and in particular a racial justice issue.
3. CALL OUTS: A group of advocates is looking for those affected to join efforts to end the abuse of SHU. Cornell Law School is seeking interviews with formerly and currently incarcerated women about their experiences.
4. CAMPAIGN TO END THE NEW JIM CROW has issued a statement of solidarity with the Occupy movements. All of the 99% stand to win when injustice is uprooted.
5. Criminal Justice LEGISLATION was presented for a vote by the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee meeting on March 7. Listed are 22 of the bills including the votes. Prison Action Network was there. It was not a pleasant experience.
6. NY IS STILL IN NEED OF PAROLE REFORM Applying old backward-looking static factors while attempting to follow the new dynamic procedures for parole release decision-making based upon present and future-looking risk and needs principles creates a contradiction that the Parole Board will find very difficult to reconcile.
7. PAROLE NEWS: In January no A1VO was released on their initial board. 23% of those reappearing were granted release. Thwaites saw a de novo Board in March.
8. PRISONER JUSTICE COLUMN Last month's Mass Incarceration article reprinted including sections which were mistakenly omitted last month.
9. The National Action Network's Political Action & Second Chance Committees are hosting a ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS FORUM for those who want to know more about what the Rockefeller Drug Laws are, and about the Criminal Justice Reform Movement.
10. 2012 REMOVING THE BARS: "TAKE ACTION" Conference will include a Parole 101 panel discussion on Saturday March 24 from 2:15 to 3:45pm and a presentation by Angela Davis on Friday night.
11. SECOND LOOK THINK TANK from Sullivan C.F. concludes that New York State’s public safety levels—in other words, the recidivism rate—and the state’s fiscal hemorrhaging can be linked, at least in part, to the parole release decisions made by the Parole Board .
12. STAINS:CHANGING LIVES AFTER INCARCERATION is a documentary about life after incarceration, as seen from the families' perspective.
13. A COMMUNITY DIALOGUE ABOUT WOMEN AND REENTRY, Coming Home: Struggling Towards Success. Moderated by Piper Kerman, with panelists Tish, Selina Fulford, Mary McKay, Sister Mary Nerney. Special Guest Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.
14. WORK FOR SUCCESS, an initiative by Gov. Cuomo, is aimed at reducing unemployment rates for people returning home from prison. CEO will be the model program. Many advocates and legislators support this approach.
January 15, 2012
Building Bridges - January 2012 edition
The January edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Articles in this issue include the following:
1. Crime After Crime, a powerful documentary film about a woman who was sentenced to 25-Life for her role in the death of her abusive boyfriend. She and a pair of pro-bono rookie attorneys take viewers with them as they encounter the corrupt and politically driven twists and turns of the criminal justice system. Free showing includes discussion with one of the lawyers and the legislators who are sponsoring the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, A7874/S5436.
2. Legislation - Update on the status of last year’s major CJ bills. Most are back in committee, starting over, but some have made significant movement:
A7782/S5427 - Aubry/Hassell-Thompson BAN THE BOX BILL
Was reintroduced in the Assembly and then sent to Investigations and Government Operations.
S0107/A5355 - Montgomery/Aubry EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Was vetoed by Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee last session. It’s been referred back to the Committee this session, and also to the Assembly’s Crime Committee.
S0338/A0154 - Montgomery/Aubry MERIT TIME BILL
Has been referred back to the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee where it was defeated last session.
S0476-A/A7870 - Nozzolio/Tediso $7 CO-PAYMENTS FOR PRISON MEDICAL CARE
Was referred back to the Assembly where it died, and was returned to the Senate where it was sent to the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
S2057 - Kruger no Assembly bill 85% OF MINIMUM (of an indeterminate sentence) MUST BE SERVED.
Has not been reintroduced so far.
S3537/A07015 Griffo FIVE MEMBER BOARDS FOR VOS
Referred to Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, amended, and sent back, but not reintroduced in Assembly so far.
S3645-C/A 7015-B - Griffo/Spano “BRITTANY’S LAW” VFO REGISTRY
Died in Assembly, sent back to Senate, referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
S3747/A8478 - Nozzolio/Giglio FRP BILL
Died in Assembly, returned to Senate, referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
S5374/A7939 - Duane/Aubry THE SAFE PAROLE ACT
Senator Perkins and Assembly Members Stevenson, Farrel, and Gottfried have added their names as sponsors.
3. NYS Parole Reform Campaign invites readers to attend their workshop at the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus Weekend, on February 18 in Albany. This is part of a series of social, civil and criminal justice workshops.
4. NYS Prisoner Justice believes these are the worst of times and the best of times. The best is the many movements and campaigns that are working to solve social problems by providing people with positive opportunities to realize their potential and contribute to their communities. The worst is that after hundreds of years racism is still thriving, now through the mass incarceration of predominately poor and Black people. We haven’t won the war, but we haven’t lost it either.
5. Parole News takes five pages to report this month! November and December statistics; a year-end summary; memo to the Parole Board from Chairwoman Evans; Thwaites and Graziano court decisions.
6. Prisoners of the Census - a victory! Prisoners will be counted in their home districts for redistricting purposes. Kudos to the Prison Policy Institute which was instrumental in exposing the inequities of counting prisoners where they are incarcerated.
Articles in this issue include the following:
1. Crime After Crime, a powerful documentary film about a woman who was sentenced to 25-Life for her role in the death of her abusive boyfriend. She and a pair of pro-bono rookie attorneys take viewers with them as they encounter the corrupt and politically driven twists and turns of the criminal justice system. Free showing includes discussion with one of the lawyers and the legislators who are sponsoring the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, A7874/S5436.
2. Legislation - Update on the status of last year’s major CJ bills. Most are back in committee, starting over, but some have made significant movement:
A7782/S5427 - Aubry/Hassell-Thompson BAN THE BOX BILL
Was reintroduced in the Assembly and then sent to Investigations and Government Operations.
S0107/A5355 - Montgomery/Aubry EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Was vetoed by Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee last session. It’s been referred back to the Committee this session, and also to the Assembly’s Crime Committee.
S0338/A0154 - Montgomery/Aubry MERIT TIME BILL
Has been referred back to the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee where it was defeated last session.
S0476-A/A7870 - Nozzolio/Tediso $7 CO-PAYMENTS FOR PRISON MEDICAL CARE
Was referred back to the Assembly where it died, and was returned to the Senate where it was sent to the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
S2057 - Kruger no Assembly bill 85% OF MINIMUM (of an indeterminate sentence) MUST BE SERVED.
Has not been reintroduced so far.
S3537/A07015 Griffo FIVE MEMBER BOARDS FOR VOS
Referred to Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, amended, and sent back, but not reintroduced in Assembly so far.
S3645-C/A 7015-B - Griffo/Spano “BRITTANY’S LAW” VFO REGISTRY
Died in Assembly, sent back to Senate, referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
S3747/A8478 - Nozzolio/Giglio FRP BILL
Died in Assembly, returned to Senate, referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
S5374/A7939 - Duane/Aubry THE SAFE PAROLE ACT
Senator Perkins and Assembly Members Stevenson, Farrel, and Gottfried have added their names as sponsors.
3. NYS Parole Reform Campaign invites readers to attend their workshop at the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus Weekend, on February 18 in Albany. This is part of a series of social, civil and criminal justice workshops.
4. NYS Prisoner Justice believes these are the worst of times and the best of times. The best is the many movements and campaigns that are working to solve social problems by providing people with positive opportunities to realize their potential and contribute to their communities. The worst is that after hundreds of years racism is still thriving, now through the mass incarceration of predominately poor and Black people. We haven’t won the war, but we haven’t lost it either.
5. Parole News takes five pages to report this month! November and December statistics; a year-end summary; memo to the Parole Board from Chairwoman Evans; Thwaites and Graziano court decisions.
6. Prisoners of the Census - a victory! Prisoners will be counted in their home districts for redistricting purposes. Kudos to the Prison Policy Institute which was instrumental in exposing the inequities of counting prisoners where they are incarcerated.
December 16, 2011
Setting the record straight, Part 3: Release, Reentry, Reintegration: how the SAFE Parole Act is necessary for all three
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, a series of articles presented by the Coalition For Fair Criminal Justice Policies to explain and support the SAFE Parole Act.
Part 3: Release, Reentry, Reintegration: how the SAFE Parole Act is necessary for all three, by Larry White
The Importance of the Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act in Making Decisions about Release, Reentry, and Reintegration
Penal Law 1.05 states that in addition to punishment (retribution), deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation there is a fifth goal: "the promotion of their [incarcerated people's] successful and productive reentry and reintegration into society." [emphasis added]
The purpose of this article is to define reintegration, and to show how necessary the SAFE Parole Act is in achieving it.
Reentry and reintegration are commonly thought of as meaning the same thing, but they are, in actuality, very different:
Reentry is the process of returning to one's community and finding a way to get basic needs met - such as housing, food, employment - without resorting to criminal activities. Preparation for reentry starts in prison, with programs that prepare the person for life on the outside. In recent years outside agencies have gotten funding to meet reentry needs and continue to help a person remain at liberty without reverting to a life of crime. Parole needs to to create linkages for their clients with community agencies that can meet their subsistence needs, such as food, clothing, employment, medical care, and public assistance. Most community organizations offer case management to get a person back on their feet. Most don't go any further.
Reintegration is established when the formerly incarcerated person has developed social ties that help him or her continue to live at liberty without breaking the law. This person needs to be connected with a new environment which encourages and rewards legitimate behaviors and attitudes. The shorter the period of incarceration, the easier this task will be.
Part of this new involvement is with groups such as neighborhood associations, faith groups, men's groups, women's groups; groups where he or she is accepted as a contributing member to the positive goals of the group. Reintegration is the last stage in our criminal justice system, and therefore it must be the goal of all the stages that precede it, from arrest forward. It’s the capacity to live at liberty without disobeying the law. The community must get involved in nurturing legitimate lifestyles in the lives of the men and women returning from prison.
In NYS's criminal justice system the judicial system sets the punishment, which may include a period of incarceration. Prisons are responsible for providing deterrence and the tools for rehabilitation. The Parole Board's job is to assess a person's readiness to leave the incarceration stage behind and begin the process of reintegration.
This is where the SAFE Parole Act becomes necessary. Even with the recent revisions to the law, which mandate the use of a Transitional Accountability Plan and a Risk and Needs Assessment, the criminal justice system has not moved significantly closer to the fifth goal of reintegration. As long as the Parole Board can continue to base release decisions on the crime, which a person can never change, people who are truly ready to begin the process of reintegration will continue to be denied. The Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act doesn't leave it up to the Parole Board to voluntarily create procedures that would lead to fairer parole hearings, it includes them right in the bill.
Unlike the recently implemented changes, the SAFE Parole Act is based on an understanding that what a person does, what his or her attitudes and behaviors have become over the course of many years, are the most important indicators of readiness for reintegration, and thus for release from prison.
Most importantly, if the parole applicant’s attitude and/or behavior does not meet their standards, the Parole Board must spell out what he or she must do in order to be considered ready for release to parole supervision. Once those requirements have been met, the person must be released.
No one can ever know for sure that another person will commit a crime. But there are good indicators in the SAFE PAROLE ACT, and the Parole Board can do no better than to base their decision on them.
TAP and R&NA will continue to be used by Parole's Community Supervision once the person is back in society, and will extend until the person has reached the final goal of reintegration.
From: the Prison Action Network, in Building Bridges, December 2011
Part 3: Release, Reentry, Reintegration: how the SAFE Parole Act is necessary for all three, by Larry White
The Importance of the Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act in Making Decisions about Release, Reentry, and Reintegration
Penal Law 1.05 states that in addition to punishment (retribution), deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation there is a fifth goal: "the promotion of their [incarcerated people's] successful and productive reentry and reintegration into society." [emphasis added]
The purpose of this article is to define reintegration, and to show how necessary the SAFE Parole Act is in achieving it.
Reentry and reintegration are commonly thought of as meaning the same thing, but they are, in actuality, very different:
Reentry is the process of returning to one's community and finding a way to get basic needs met - such as housing, food, employment - without resorting to criminal activities. Preparation for reentry starts in prison, with programs that prepare the person for life on the outside. In recent years outside agencies have gotten funding to meet reentry needs and continue to help a person remain at liberty without reverting to a life of crime. Parole needs to to create linkages for their clients with community agencies that can meet their subsistence needs, such as food, clothing, employment, medical care, and public assistance. Most community organizations offer case management to get a person back on their feet. Most don't go any further.
Reintegration is established when the formerly incarcerated person has developed social ties that help him or her continue to live at liberty without breaking the law. This person needs to be connected with a new environment which encourages and rewards legitimate behaviors and attitudes. The shorter the period of incarceration, the easier this task will be.
Part of this new involvement is with groups such as neighborhood associations, faith groups, men's groups, women's groups; groups where he or she is accepted as a contributing member to the positive goals of the group. Reintegration is the last stage in our criminal justice system, and therefore it must be the goal of all the stages that precede it, from arrest forward. It’s the capacity to live at liberty without disobeying the law. The community must get involved in nurturing legitimate lifestyles in the lives of the men and women returning from prison.
In NYS's criminal justice system the judicial system sets the punishment, which may include a period of incarceration. Prisons are responsible for providing deterrence and the tools for rehabilitation. The Parole Board's job is to assess a person's readiness to leave the incarceration stage behind and begin the process of reintegration.
This is where the SAFE Parole Act becomes necessary. Even with the recent revisions to the law, which mandate the use of a Transitional Accountability Plan and a Risk and Needs Assessment, the criminal justice system has not moved significantly closer to the fifth goal of reintegration. As long as the Parole Board can continue to base release decisions on the crime, which a person can never change, people who are truly ready to begin the process of reintegration will continue to be denied. The Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act doesn't leave it up to the Parole Board to voluntarily create procedures that would lead to fairer parole hearings, it includes them right in the bill.
Unlike the recently implemented changes, the SAFE Parole Act is based on an understanding that what a person does, what his or her attitudes and behaviors have become over the course of many years, are the most important indicators of readiness for reintegration, and thus for release from prison.
Most importantly, if the parole applicant’s attitude and/or behavior does not meet their standards, the Parole Board must spell out what he or she must do in order to be considered ready for release to parole supervision. Once those requirements have been met, the person must be released.
No one can ever know for sure that another person will commit a crime. But there are good indicators in the SAFE PAROLE ACT, and the Parole Board can do no better than to base their decision on them.
TAP and R&NA will continue to be used by Parole's Community Supervision once the person is back in society, and will extend until the person has reached the final goal of reintegration.
From: the Prison Action Network, in Building Bridges, December 2011
December 15, 2011
Building Bridges - December 2011 edition
The December edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Articles in this issue include the following:
1. Attica - The Correctional Association (CA) of New York visited Attica C. F. on April 12 and 13, 2011 and reports that Attica has changed significantly since 1971, although some severe problems do persist. So severe that Director Soffiyah Elijah concludes that it is broken beyond repair, and Governor Cuomo should shutter its doors forever.
2. Dorothy Day Apartment building on Riverside Dr. in West Harlem once was home to drug dealers but is now not only beautiful, but it also pulses with pride and hope and happiness.
3. The Guardian Newspaper is interested in hearing from U.S. inmates, their families, prison guards or anyone whose life has been impacted by incarceration. If you would like to contribute to the series, please write to: Sadhbh Walshe, The Guardian, PO Box 1466, New York, NY 10150.
4. Hour Children, a Queens nonprofit group, is creating affordable housing in Long Island City for formerly incarcerated women trying to rebuild their lives.
5. Job Op: Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region is seeking a program director for their SNUG program.
6. Legislation updates: 65%, Merit Time Bill, SAFE Parole Act, Domestic Violence Survivor Justice Act.
7. NYS Parole Reform Campaign will present a workshop at the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus Weekend in February. We continue to work on clarifying the changes to the current parole statute. Part 3 of Setting the Record Straight deals with Parole's 3 Rs.
8. Column #2 of the New York State Prisoner Justice Network discusses their involvement with Occupy Wall Street and asks for your involvement in that work.
9. Parole News: TAP and COMPAS per Chairwoman Evans; October parole release decisions.
10. Prisoner of the Census: An Albany judge has upheld a state law that counts inmates, for legislative reapportionment purposes, in their home community rather than the district in which they are incarcerated.
11. Prison Legal Services is looking for lawyers to do pro-bono work and offers incentives.
12. Radio messages from home to those inside. CALLS FROM HOME is a gripping radio broadcast that brings the voices of prisoner families, former prisoners, poets, musicians, and everyday citizens to the airwaves. The broadcast consists of holiday greetings from family members to their loved ones behind bars and the over 2.4 million people incarcerated in the United States.
13. Taking Care of Business means communities building an inclusive environment for people returning home from prison, by Karima Amin, CEO of Prisoners Are People Too, Inc.
The Prison Action Network gives a summary of the 2011 changes to Parole Board policies:
In 2011, the governor revised parole board policies when he merged DOCS and the Division of Parole. He left the Board as an independent body. In doing so he revised the parole statute to direct the Parole Board to:
1. consider the person's readiness for reentry and reintegration.
2. establish procedures for including risk and needs principles in their decision making process.
The other eight factors that the parole board must consider are the same as always, except they are now all in one place. They still include "the seriousness of the offense".
In 2011 the Safe And Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act was introduced to the legislature as Senate Bill 5374 and Assembly Bill 7939. It is not yet a law. To become a law it will have to pass in both houses of the legislature and be signed by the governor.
Articles in this issue include the following:
1. Attica - The Correctional Association (CA) of New York visited Attica C. F. on April 12 and 13, 2011 and reports that Attica has changed significantly since 1971, although some severe problems do persist. So severe that Director Soffiyah Elijah concludes that it is broken beyond repair, and Governor Cuomo should shutter its doors forever.
2. Dorothy Day Apartment building on Riverside Dr. in West Harlem once was home to drug dealers but is now not only beautiful, but it also pulses with pride and hope and happiness.
3. The Guardian Newspaper is interested in hearing from U.S. inmates, their families, prison guards or anyone whose life has been impacted by incarceration. If you would like to contribute to the series, please write to: Sadhbh Walshe, The Guardian, PO Box 1466, New York, NY 10150.
4. Hour Children, a Queens nonprofit group, is creating affordable housing in Long Island City for formerly incarcerated women trying to rebuild their lives.
5. Job Op: Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region is seeking a program director for their SNUG program.
6. Legislation updates: 65%, Merit Time Bill, SAFE Parole Act, Domestic Violence Survivor Justice Act.
7. NYS Parole Reform Campaign will present a workshop at the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus Weekend in February. We continue to work on clarifying the changes to the current parole statute. Part 3 of Setting the Record Straight deals with Parole's 3 Rs.
8. Column #2 of the New York State Prisoner Justice Network discusses their involvement with Occupy Wall Street and asks for your involvement in that work.
9. Parole News: TAP and COMPAS per Chairwoman Evans; October parole release decisions.
10. Prisoner of the Census: An Albany judge has upheld a state law that counts inmates, for legislative reapportionment purposes, in their home community rather than the district in which they are incarcerated.
11. Prison Legal Services is looking for lawyers to do pro-bono work and offers incentives.
12. Radio messages from home to those inside. CALLS FROM HOME is a gripping radio broadcast that brings the voices of prisoner families, former prisoners, poets, musicians, and everyday citizens to the airwaves. The broadcast consists of holiday greetings from family members to their loved ones behind bars and the over 2.4 million people incarcerated in the United States.
13. Taking Care of Business means communities building an inclusive environment for people returning home from prison, by Karima Amin, CEO of Prisoners Are People Too, Inc.
The Prison Action Network gives a summary of the 2011 changes to Parole Board policies:
In 2011, the governor revised parole board policies when he merged DOCS and the Division of Parole. He left the Board as an independent body. In doing so he revised the parole statute to direct the Parole Board to:
1. consider the person's readiness for reentry and reintegration.
2. establish procedures for including risk and needs principles in their decision making process.
The other eight factors that the parole board must consider are the same as always, except they are now all in one place. They still include "the seriousness of the offense".
In 2011 the Safe And Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act was introduced to the legislature as Senate Bill 5374 and Assembly Bill 7939. It is not yet a law. To become a law it will have to pass in both houses of the legislature and be signed by the governor.
November 17, 2011
Setting the record straight, Part 2: The success of the merger depends on the implementation of the SAFE Parole Act
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, a series of articles presented by the Coalition For Fair Criminal Justice Policies to explain and support the SAFE Parole Act.
Part 2: The Success of the Merger Depends on the Implementation of the SAFE Parole Act, by Larry White (delivered at the NYS Assembly's Nov. 10 Public Hearing on the DOCCS Merger).
I believe with great conviction that incarcerated individuals are stakeholders in every aspect of the correctional and parole process, and therefore should have meaningful involvement in the operation of the processes that affect their lives and liberties.
The recent legislative changes that were enacted in conjunction with the merger of Dept. of Corrections and Community Supervision and the Division of Parole, including the development of Transitional Accountability Plans and the implementation of Risk and Need Assessment Instrument(s) provide tools that are potentially helpful to refocus the roles of Corrections and Parole in preparation for successful reentry, but completely fail to address the need for those under custody to have direct involvement and input in the very processes that directly affect their release from incarceration.
Although the Transitional Accountability Plan in theory does allow for participation by inmates in the construction of their individualized plan, there is no general policy or directive that requires this. There is also nothing that categorically provides that at every stage of the correctional process the individual inmate shall be informed of exactly what he/she must accomplish or achieve in order to be released on parole. It is this involvement that creates buy in and empowers personal transformation. Without such information the inmate cannot chart a course of involvement in the correctional process that he/she feels certain will lead to successful parole release.
Both the TAP and the Risk and Need Assessment Instrument have the potential to make clear to a person in prison what is expected of him or her and why. Under the TAP, IF the original model is followed, each inmate will participate in the development of their treatment plan, and thus will have a clearer understanding of what they must achieve. That is a very big “if.” The challenge will be whether New York follows the original model, and if line staff can accept a model in which people in prison participate in their own plan.
The Risk and Needs Assessment Instrument and the Transitional Accountability Plan together have the potential to provide each inmate with a clear indication of what is required for successful release to parole and community supervision. Inmates could be informed of these requirements at each stage in the correctional process when the TAP and the Risk and Needs Assessment are updated. Inmate participation in the rehabilitation process is increased when they are informed of what is required for their release from imprisonment and when they have an opportunity to take part in setting those goals. At this stage of the merger it is entirely unclear whether this is how the Tap and Risk and Needs Assessment will be utilized and implemented. I feel compelled to express my doubts and concerns.
Perhaps we need to follow the path of places like Norway and other European countries that have decreased the primacy of punishment and increased the use of proven programmatic approaches to behavioral and cognitive change that lead to law-abiding conduct. The prevailing primacy of punishment that guides our correctional system fails to provide an environment that encourages a personal, stakeholder approach to inmate involvement in the rehabilitative process.
I would like to address the use of Risk and Need Assessment Instruments in the parole release process. Risk assessments are essentially predictions of future behavior and are subject to error. There are no 'laws' of behavior that can be applied to a set of circumstances to determine the behavioral outcome that will follow. Criminal behavior, in particular, is motivated and supported by an unquantifiable number of factors; therefore to assess an individual as 'high risk' is not to say that he or she will indeed recidivate. Despite its shortcomings, risk assessment can, to a certain extent, differentiate offenders who pose a significant risk for re-offending in the future from those who are likely to refrain from committing future offenses. It can also help identify needed support services.
It appears that the risk assessment instrument that DOCCS intends to use will contain “seriousness of the offense” as a factor to determine current dangerousness. From my perspective, the nature of the offense is not a useful tool in determining who should be released and if in fact they are ready for reintegration. The seriousness of the crime has no relevance as a predictor of whether the person will commit that crime again. In addition, the process for utilizing the risk and needs assessment instrument should be transparent. A person appearing before the parole board should be provided with a copy of the scored instrument in advance and the decision should include an explanation of how the instrument was used to make the release decision.
What is sorely missing from the legislation under discussion that accompanies this merger is the requirement that the Board of Parole provide the parole applicant with specific requirements for actions to be taken, programs or accomplishments to be completed, or changes in performance or conduct to be made, or corrective action or actions to be taken, in order to qualify for parole release. As soon as the requirements have been successfully completed and the parole applicant's institutional record has been satisfactory during the time between the previous and current parole board hearing, release shall be granted.
From: the Prison Action Network, in Building Bridges, November 2011.
November 16, 2011
Building Bridges - November 2011 edition
The November edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Articles relating to parole in this issue include the following:
* Governor Andrew Cuomo will be appointing judges to the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals, particularly if he serves two terms. The Prison Action Network hopes this will lead to more reintegrative sentencing in NYS
.
* Decision Fatigue is blamed for conservative parole board decisions in a New York Times Magazine article.
Prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole about 70 percent of the time, while those who appeared late in the day were paroled less than 10 percent of the time.
* Legislation: a report on the progress of the Domestic Violence Survivors' Justice Act.
* Minimum Sentences are "often excessively severe" according to a report by the US Sentencing Commission.
* NYS Parole Reform Campaign continues to gain support; the Prison Action Network delivered 333 letters from family members and advocates to Governor Cuomo. Part 2 of "Setting the Record Straight": the success of the the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) merger depends on the implementation of the SAFE Parole Act.
* NYS Prisoner Justice Network premieres the first of its monthly Building Bridges columns.
* Parole News: September statistics around 16%; Merger confusion; "one size fits all" parole decisions continue; does long incarceration increase public safety?
October 14, 2011
Setting the record straight, Part 1: Why we need to continue working for passage of the Safe Parole Act
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, a series of articles presented by the Coalition For Fair Criminal Justice Policies to explain and support the SAFE Parole Act.
Part 1: Why we need to continue working for passage of the Safe Parole Act
In his September 1, 2011 New York Law Journal article, Professor Philip Genty shares with readers his optimism for parole reform, as he attempts to interpret the legislative change enacted by the Governor’s March 31, 2011 budget bill. If that optimism depends upon the good will of the parole board to write procedures heralding a new day for parole reform, should we share that hope?
If Professor Genty is correct in his prognostication, we say “hurrah!” But there is substantial room for skepticism, and it is that skepticism that is the basis for the need for supporters of real parole reform to continue to demand sweeping change. It is important to understand what the legislative change did and did not do—and why now is the time to push for the real reform proposed by the SAFE Parole Act (A.7939 and S.5374).
The statutory change that has generated this optimism is a re-write of Executive Law§ 259-c(4). It says that the parole board shall:
establish written [guidelines] PROCEDURES for its use in making parole decisions as required by law[, including the fixing of minimum periods of imprisonment or ranges thereof for different categories of offenders]. Such written [guidelines may consider the use of a] PROCEDURES SHALL INCORPORATE risk and needs [assessment instruments] PRINCIPLES to MEASURE THE REHABILITATION OF PERSONS APPEARING BEFORE THE BOARD, THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS OF SUCH PERSON UPON RELEASE, AND assist members of the state board of parole in determining which inmates may be released to parole supervision.
( [ ] = deleted from original; CAPS = added to original)
It should be noted that there was also a rewrite of Executive Law § 259-i, which contains the factors that the parole board must consider. These factors remain exactly the same as they were, except for their repositioning within the statute. They continue to include the very static factor “the seriousness of the offense...” This factor and all of the other factors are still required to be considered under the new procedures that are still to be written.
So, here we are six months after the enactment of this hope-generating statute, and neither the procedures nor the risk and needs assessment instrument have been implemented. Yet it is these, as yet unwritten, procedures that Professor Genty would have us pin our hopes on. It doesn’t seem like a good time to sit back with our fingers crossed in hopes that the parole board will inject real reform into the still to be written procedures.
The SAFE Parole Act doesn’t leave the practical implementation of reform to the vagaries of the parole board and the hope that it will write reform-minded procedures. The SAFE Parole Act contains the procedures for implementation right in the statutory proposal itself.
Unlike the budget bill, the SAFE Parole Act would do the following:
A) Remove from parole consideration “the seriousness of the offense,” leaving that consideration exclusively to the sentencing court.
B) Add the requirement that the parole board must consider the parole applicant’s preparedness for reentry and reintegration, as evidenced by the applicant’s institutional record pertaining to program goals and accomplishments as stated in the facility performance reports, academic achievements, vocational education, training or work assignments, therapy and interactions with staff and other sentenced persons, and other indications of pro-social activity, change and transformation.
C) Add the requirement that the parole board consider the progress made towards achieving the programming and treatment needs developed in the transitional accountability plan.
D) Add the requirement that if parole is not granted the parole board will state in detail and not in conclusory terms the factors and reasons for the denial and the specific requirements for actions to be taken, programs or accomplishments to be completed, or changes in performance or conduct to be made, or corrective action or actions to be taken, in order to qualify for parole release.
E) Add the requirement that if parole is not granted the Department shall, within ninety days of the hearing decision, provide the parole applicant access to the program or programs, activities and/or facilities needed in order to provide the opportunity to fulfill the requirements set forth by the board.
F) Add the requirement that if the requirements previously set forth by the parole board at the time of denial have been successfully completed and the parole applicant’s institutional record has been satisfactory during the time between the previous and current parole hearing, release shall be granted.
G) The parole applicant shall be entitled to a copy of the scored risk and needs assessment.
These are but a few of the provisions that the SAFE Parole Act would require if enacted.
We have two choices.
We can sit back and hope that the parole board writes procedures for itself that adopt the requirements of the SAFE Parole Act, and thus prove true Professor Genty’s prognosis that these procedures may “be the most significant parole reform in more than 30 years.
Or we can continue to do the hard work of organizing for legislative change and passage of the SAFE Parole Act.
From: the Prison Action Network, in Building Bridges, October 2011.
October 13, 2011
Building Bridges - October 2011 edition
The October edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Articles in this edition include:
1. Prison Children Anonymous: Children who have or once had a parent, sibling or loved one involved in the criminal justice system, now have a place to receive emotional support and learn about our penal system.
2. Citizens Against Recidivism 5th Annual Citizens’ Awards Event, Saturday November 5th, is at a new location this year: TIAN, 679 Riverside Dr. Join the PAN table for a reduced ticket price.
3. Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement (FICPM) announces a national conference to discuss and ratify a National Agenda to restore their civil and human rights.
4. The Coalition for Women Prisoners, a project of the Women in Prison Project, invites readers to help make the criminal justice system more responsive to the needs and rights of women and their families.
5. The Free Bus Program was recently eliminated by NYS DOCCS. Please help bring it back by taking the “Bring Back the Buses” Survey.
6. Legislation: Despite rumors, there is no law releasing inmates after 65% of their sentence is served, The SAFE Parole Act was not voted on by the Senate ‘s Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee, and only 4 of the 26 bills reported on in Building Bridges were voted on by any body. None of them became law.
7. NYS Parole Reform Campaign: Response to Philip Genty’s article on Exec. Law §259-i revisions by the governor (see Sept. Building Bridges). More than 210 letters to the Governor in support of the SAFE Parole Act have been gathered by hardworking readers. Good work, team!
8. Parole News: August releases, first use of revised Parole Board policies, comments from a stakeholder.
9. Youth Justice: New York State is one of only two states in the country (the other is North Carolina) where every 16 and 17 year old is automatically tried as an adult. Judge Lippman calls for raising the age.
October 07, 2011
NYSACDL Supports Call For Parole Reform
The NYSACDL [New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers] has joined a growing list of legal, advocacy and community organizations that have called for the reform of New York parole law. This diverse coalition supports the Safe And Fair Evaluation of Parole Act, also known as the SAFE Parole Act. The SAFE Parole Act would amend New York’s existing parole statute, Executive Law § 259-i... ...
WHY PAROLE REFORM NOW?
It might be asked why parole reform should be supported at a time when the newly appointed New York State Permanent Sentencing Commission seems poised to recommend adoption of a mostly determinate sentencing scheme for nonviolent felonies, adding it to the determinate scheme already adopted for violent and drug felonies. The answer is simple. No matter how quickly the Sentencing Commission and the Legislature act, there will still be thousands of people in prison serving indeterminate sentences for decades to come who will face parole board appearances. For example, there is certainly no consideration being given to ending indeterminate life sentences for A-1 violent felonies, A-1 drug conspiracies and major traffickers or persistent felony offenders.
In fiscal year 2009-2010 the Parole Board conducted over 19,000 hearings for people who were serving indeterminate sentences. It will take years for that number to diminish substantially. As of January 1, 2009 there were over 9,100 men and women in New York prisons serving life sentences for A-1 violent felonies. With an initial parole release rate of just 8% for A-1 violent felons, and a subsequent parole release rate of 13%, the number of people requiring parole consideration will measure in the thousands for the foreseeable future. The remarkably low release rate for this population reflects the Parole Board’s aversion to parole release for applicants convicted of A-1 violent felonies. The Parole Board has chosen to focus on the “serious nature of the criminal offense” rather than looking at factors grounded in prison based performance, to determine if there is a reasonable basis to conclude that the individual will live a law abiding life if released. It is noteworthy that the recidivism rate for this group is significantly lower than any other group of parole releasees. According to the Division of Parole, of the 784 people serving life sentences for A-1 violent felonies who were released on parole during 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 the recidivism rate, measured by return to DOCS for a new felony conviction, was 1/4 of one percent.
It is both unfair and bad corrections policy to require such a significant number of people to continue to be subject to a parole release system so fundamentally flawed.
For full article, including a review of some of the changes proposed by the SAFE Parole Act, see:
NYSACDL Supports Call For Parole Reform (Atticus, Volume 23 Number 1, Winter 2011)
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