Policy Agenda 2010
REDUCING OVERINCARCERATION
In the past 10 years, New York's adult prison inmate population has dropped by over 13,000 people, but the state has only reduced its capacity by 2,250 beds. There are still over 6,300 empty prison beds being funded by taxpayers—wasting millions of dollars each year.
While Governor Paterson's 2010-2011 proposed budget includes closing four small adult facilities, the state can take additional steps to substantially lower the number of people it incarcerates by closing additional underutilized prisons and expanding work release programs, graduated sanctions for technical parole violators, and merit-time eligibility. And, although the reforms enacted last April to the Rockefeller Drug Laws are substantial, the mandatory sentencing provisions that remain on the books will still cause the imprisonment of thousands of minor drug offenders each year.
In the coming year Drop the Rock's new prison downsizing campaign will lead outreach, advocacy, and education efforts—including an Advocacy Day in Albany on March 16—aimed at addressing this range of issues.
MORE INFO:
- Drop the Rock website