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
February 01, 2014
September 25, 2013
Building Bridges - September/October 2013 edition
The September/October 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 become involved.
Summaries of articles:
1. Parole News: August releases; News about former parole board member and chair Robert Dennison’s advocacy for certain parole applicants.
2. NYS Parole Reform Campaign reports on the growing energy around the SAFE Parole Act; unveils new and easy Weekly Action readers can join.
3. Ending Parole Abuse - Reuniting Families; a Campaign to Overhaul New York’s Parole System encourages public participation and invites us to their gala Kick-off event on November 8.
4. We can do it! Inspiration from FAMM’s experience.
5. End Mass Incarceration Convergence puts Prisoner Justice Network solidly on the map.
6. Release Aging People from Prison (RAPP) unveils petition drive on WBAI’s Law and Disorder show.
7. Religion, Abolition, Mass Incarceration seminar on October 4-5 includes speakers from RAPP.
8. Bookends, an evening of performances inspired by incarcerated parents and grandparents, to be presented in Albany by Prison Legal Services.
9. Michelle Alexander is expanding her focus to include a radical restructuring of society.
10. Education from the Inside Out is beginning a new season of working to remove the barriers that keep our youth and people with criminal records uneducated.
11. Part 3 in Baba Eng’s address to Building Bridges readers in which he looks at who's responsible and who is going to do something about our failed criminal justice system.
12. Forty-two years after the Attica rebellion Prisoners Are People Too takes a look at what has changed (or not) over the four decades since then.
13. Corey Parks: The race for quality has no finish line. There is always room for more improvement.
14. Small Business Legal Academy offers free consulting day.
15. Special screening of Herman’s House at CSS. Petition to grant him compassionate release.
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 become involved.
Summaries of articles:
1. Parole News: August releases; News about former parole board member and chair Robert Dennison’s advocacy for certain parole applicants.
2. NYS Parole Reform Campaign reports on the growing energy around the SAFE Parole Act; unveils new and easy Weekly Action readers can join.
3. Ending Parole Abuse - Reuniting Families; a Campaign to Overhaul New York’s Parole System encourages public participation and invites us to their gala Kick-off event on November 8.
4. We can do it! Inspiration from FAMM’s experience.
5. End Mass Incarceration Convergence puts Prisoner Justice Network solidly on the map.
6. Release Aging People from Prison (RAPP) unveils petition drive on WBAI’s Law and Disorder show.
7. Religion, Abolition, Mass Incarceration seminar on October 4-5 includes speakers from RAPP.
8. Bookends, an evening of performances inspired by incarcerated parents and grandparents, to be presented in Albany by Prison Legal Services.
9. Michelle Alexander is expanding her focus to include a radical restructuring of society.
10. Education from the Inside Out is beginning a new season of working to remove the barriers that keep our youth and people with criminal records uneducated.
11. Part 3 in Baba Eng’s address to Building Bridges readers in which he looks at who's responsible and who is going to do something about our failed criminal justice system.
12. Forty-two years after the Attica rebellion Prisoners Are People Too takes a look at what has changed (or not) over the four decades since then.
13. Corey Parks: The race for quality has no finish line. There is always room for more improvement.
14. Small Business Legal Academy offers free consulting day.
15. Special screening of Herman’s House at CSS. Petition to grant him compassionate release.
August 25, 2013
Building Bridges - August/September 2013 edition
The August/September 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 become involved.
1. Parole releases are averaging close to 26% for both initials and reappearances; Building Bridges gives a list of current parole commissioners and their biographies.
3. The campaign to overhaul NY’s failed parole system is moving forward with a meeting on September 7 to begin planning the year’s events.
4. NYS Prisoner Justice Network takes a cautious look at the Stop and Frisk judicial decision and A.G. Holder’s speech calling for federal prison reforms.
5. DOCCS is denying more and more women entry to the Bedford Hills' prison nursery, particularly women who have been convicted of violent crimes and women who have had child welfare involvement with other children.
6. Merle Cooper petition signatures reach 845. There are six days left to at least be counted among those who think DOCCS should maintain programs that have proven track records.
7. College degree program at Albion C.F. to start this summer, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Sunshine Lady.
8. Baba Eng follows the thread from Black Codes > criminal justice system > criminal codes > Emancipation Proclamation > 13th amendment with its exception > vagrancy (and other) laws to catch up Freed Blacks.
9. Black August: In remembrance of Jonathan Jackson, brother of George Jackson, Mujahid Farid, the featured speaker at this month’s Prisoners Are People Too meeting, will consider how the fate of Jonathan ties into issues of juvenile justice.
10. Corey Parks wants to convince you of your ability to become a leader after you come home.
11. ReEntry Roundtable Wed. Sept 18, 1-3pm, "Broken On All Sides" documentary.
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 become involved.
1. Parole releases are averaging close to 26% for both initials and reappearances; Building Bridges gives a list of current parole commissioners and their biographies.
In other parole news, the following is a brief summary from the highly recommended report, Parole Release Decisions and the Rule of Law, by Alan Rosenthal and Patricia Warth (Atticus, Summer 2013, Vol. 25, No. 2, p. 10-16):
"In response to the amendment of Executive Law § 259-c(4) the Parole Board took no action to establish written procedures, instead apparently relying upon the "Evans' Memo" to suffice. Upon inspection and investigation of this memo a simple truth emerges. The memo does not contain the procedures required to satisfy the 2011 amendment and it has not been promulgated by proper filing with the Department of State, the Secretary of State, or publication in the state register. Therefore any action taken by the Parole Board to deny parole to any person coming before it would be made in violation of Executive Law § 259-c(4) because it would have been made without first establishing or following proper procedures, thus inviting judicial annulment."2. Only four Criminal Justice bills that the Prison Action Network were following made it into law. None of them targets a subset of the prison population, and two increase benefits to victims.
3. The campaign to overhaul NY’s failed parole system is moving forward with a meeting on September 7 to begin planning the year’s events.
4. NYS Prisoner Justice Network takes a cautious look at the Stop and Frisk judicial decision and A.G. Holder’s speech calling for federal prison reforms.
5. DOCCS is denying more and more women entry to the Bedford Hills' prison nursery, particularly women who have been convicted of violent crimes and women who have had child welfare involvement with other children.
6. Merle Cooper petition signatures reach 845. There are six days left to at least be counted among those who think DOCCS should maintain programs that have proven track records.
7. College degree program at Albion C.F. to start this summer, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Sunshine Lady.
8. Baba Eng follows the thread from Black Codes > criminal justice system > criminal codes > Emancipation Proclamation > 13th amendment with its exception > vagrancy (and other) laws to catch up Freed Blacks.
9. Black August: In remembrance of Jonathan Jackson, brother of George Jackson, Mujahid Farid, the featured speaker at this month’s Prisoners Are People Too meeting, will consider how the fate of Jonathan ties into issues of juvenile justice.
10. Corey Parks wants to convince you of your ability to become a leader after you come home.
11. ReEntry Roundtable Wed. Sept 18, 1-3pm, "Broken On All Sides" documentary.
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.
July 03, 2013
New York State Parole Board Members
Current members of the New York State Board of Parole, updated to include those appointed on June 19 2013:
Stanford, Tina, Chairwoman
Alexander, Ellen
Coppola, Marc
Crangle, Joseph
Elovich, Lisa Beth
Ferguson, James
Hallerdin, Gail
Hernandez, Christina
Johnson, Milton
Ludlow, G. Kevin
Sharkey, Edward
Smith, Julie
Smith, Walter Wm., Jr.
Thompson, Sally
Stanford, Tina, Chairwoman
Alexander, Ellen
Coppola, Marc
Crangle, Joseph
Elovich, Lisa Beth
Ferguson, James
Hallerdin, Gail
Hernandez, Christina
Johnson, Milton
Ludlow, G. Kevin
Sharkey, Edward
Smith, Julie
Smith, Walter Wm., Jr.
Thompson, Sally
June 29, 2013
Appellate Court Judge is admonished over letter to Parole Board
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has determined that Nancy E. Smith, a Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, should be admonished for sending an unsolicited letter on behalf of an inmate who was applying for parole.
The Commission said Smith sent an unsolicited letter on her judicial stationery to a parole board indicating that the inmate was a 'friend' and 'good person' who deserved release. In fact, while Smith had corresponded with the inmate, she never met him and her only connection to the matter was that her brother-in-law's sister is a friend of the defendant's mother.
Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian made the following statement: "This marks the first time the Commission has publicly disciplined an Appellate Division Justice, whose high rank should have made her especially sensitive to setting an example and obeying the ethics rules."
For further details:
Admonition of Appellate Division Justice Nancy E. Smith, Fourth Department (Rochester) June 28 2013
Appellate Justice Is Faulted Over Letter to Parole Board, by John Caher (New York Law Journal, July 1 2013)
In a first, Appellate Division justice is admonished, by Rick Karlin (Times Union Capitol, June 28 2013)
The Commission said Smith sent an unsolicited letter on her judicial stationery to a parole board indicating that the inmate was a 'friend' and 'good person' who deserved release. In fact, while Smith had corresponded with the inmate, she never met him and her only connection to the matter was that her brother-in-law's sister is a friend of the defendant's mother.
Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian made the following statement: "This marks the first time the Commission has publicly disciplined an Appellate Division Justice, whose high rank should have made her especially sensitive to setting an example and obeying the ethics rules."
For further details:
Admonition of Appellate Division Justice Nancy E. Smith, Fourth Department (Rochester) June 28 2013
Appellate Justice Is Faulted Over Letter to Parole Board, by John Caher (New York Law Journal, July 1 2013)
In a first, Appellate Division justice is admonished, by Rick Karlin (Times Union Capitol, June 28 2013)
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.
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