Pros and Cons of Recent Rockefeller Reforms
The reforms represent the beginning of the end for the Rockefeller Drug Laws. But there is still work to be done.
PROS
- The reforms restore judicial discretion for broad categories of individuals charged with drug offenses, including many individuals convicted of second felony drug crimes.
- The reforms provide for a significant increase in funding for drug treatment and rehabilitation programs in prisons and for community-based alternatives to incarceration.
The reforms provide for a greater role for the State’s Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services in monitoring and guiding drug treatment programs in prisons.
Some individuals currently confined for drug offenses will be able to petition the courts for a reduction in their sentences.
CONS
- Some mandatory sentencing provisions remain on the books and will continue to catch in their net large numbers of low-level persons convicted of drug crimes who will face lengthy prison terms.
- The main criterion for guilt remains the weight of drugs found on people at the point of arrest–not their role in the transaction–a provision that will likely perpetuate the disproportionate policing of New York’s low-income communities of color, where drugs are more likely to be dealt on the street and it is easier to make arrests.
- Only about 1,500 of the nearly 12,000 people currently incarcerated under the laws will likely be eligible for retroactive resentencing.
News
Correctional Association of New York releases “Solitary at Southport: A 2017 Report Based Upon the Correctional Assn.’s Visits, Data Analysis, & First-Hand Accounts of the Torture of Solitary Confinement from One of New York’s Supermax Prisons”
New York, NY (December 13, 2017): Today The Correctional Assn. of NY (CA), founded in 1844 and one of the oldest prison watchdog organizations in the country, released a 92-page report providing graphic first-hand depictions of physical, mental, and emotional abuse as a result of days, weeks, and often years of being caged in solitary confinement for 23 to 24 hours a day.Read More
Press
Letter to the Editor: Alleviating the Pain When a Parent Is in Jail
To the Editor: Re “Serving as a Role Model During a Father’s Absence” (The Neediest Cases, Dec. 21): It’s nice to see young Jaylen benefit from the MentorCHIP program. But children whose parents are incarcerated need regular visits with their parents. Studies show that children’s emotional, scholastic and social adjustment improve when they have regularly [...]Read More
Reports & Research
10 Things You Need to Know About Brutality and Abuse at Clinton C.F.
The Correctional Association of NY conducted in depth interviews with 30 people currently incarcerated at Clinton on August 19 and 20, 2015, and corresponded with many more people held at the prison over the last few months. The information reported provides further confirmation of both extensive staff brutality in the aftermath of the June escape [...]Read More
Prison Monitoring Reports
Auburn Correctional Facility
Auburn was the first prison to implement the “Auburn System,” a system of incarceration in which incarcerated people worked in groups during the day, were housed in solitary cells during the night, and lived in enforced silence. Today, Auburn Correctional Facility operates as a maximum security, DOCCS-operated prison for men ages 21 and older.Read More
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