“Whatever Your Worst Fear Was, That Was Attica’: Former Prisoners Ask Cuomo to Shut Down NY’s Infamous Prison
Photo: Victoria Law On Thursday afternoon, the day before the 45th anniversary of the most famous prison uprising in U.S. history, dozens of people gathered across the street from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Midtown office demanding that he close the maximum-security prison at Attica. Fed up with brutal conditions, men imprisoned at Attica seized control of the prison on September 9, 1971, taking 43 staff members hostage.Read More
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign and Correctional Association of New York propose revised parole rules to enhance public safety, encourage release of aging people from prison
RAPP and the CA team up to propose parole regulations that would ensure incarcerated individuals receive fair and evidence-based consideration for release. Read More
A better proposal for NYS parole regulations
In 2011, an Executive Law mandated the New York State Board of Parole to base release decisions on risk assessment tools, but until now, the board has failed to do so. Read More
Advocates Recite Shortcomings of N.Y. Parole Review Process
ALBANY – Several dozen parole-reform advocates convened on a legislative hearing Wednesday where the reform-minded chairman offered hope that a process increasingly criticized by the courts is ripe for change. Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, a Manhattan Democrat and former public defender with the Legal Aid Society, said he has visited a dozen state prisons in the past three months, and expressed concern that felons who seemingly pose no threat are routinely denied parole because of a violent offense committed decades in the past.Read More
He’s Over 80, but a Convict Gets No Parole
Why do the older paroled inmates do better? “They age out of crime,” said Mujahid Farid, a former prisoner and current Soros fellow who is working on a campaign to increase the rate of release of aging prisoners in New York. “They have spent a lot of time reflecting on their life,” he said. “Sometime, there is a lot of growth in prison, despite the oppressive conditions. Almost like a flower growing through cement.”Read More
Grandparents Behind Bars: a panel discussion
Join the RAPP Campaign on October 12 at Fordham University for a discussion on why we should release aging people in prison.Read More
Prisons Get Grayer, But Efforts to Release the Dying Lag
Critics say harsh criteria for compassionate release application make the program superfluous. Read More
At 89, Astor’s Son Wouldn’t Be the Oldest in Prison
There are more than 2,100 who are 60 or older, a growing segment of the inmate population. They present a minimal security risk but put a maximum strain on prison resources, both because of their medical needs and because they are still heavily guarded even after their potential for physical violence has faded, said Soffiyah Elijah, the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, a nonprofit group that monitors conditions in state prisons.Read More
Meet Soros Justice Fellow Mujahid Farid on June 20 at the Correctional Association
Farid is among 14 established and emerging leaders working to reform the criminal justice system selected by the Open Society Foundations to receive the fellowship.Read More
Correctional Association to Host Soros Justice Fellow Mujahid Farid
The Correctional Association of New York celebrates the Open Society Institute’s selection of CA staff member Mujahid Farid as a 2013 Soros Justice Fellow. Read More
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