We, as a society, focus too much on punishment, rather than community building and resources. This results in high, unforgiving rates of incarceration, placing more value on locking community members up than giving them resources to thrive.

Each day in New York State, tens of thousands of people, disproportionately Black, brown, and low-income, languish behind bars. Nearly 75% are Black and brown. After a half-century of racist and draconian sentencing laws, New York must pass the Eliminate Mandatory Minimums Act, Second Look Act, and Earned Time Act, which would eliminate mandatory minimums, address excessive sentences, and create additional opportunities for people to be considered for release.

Given the clear brain science research on emerging adulthood, the legislature must also pass The Youth Justice & Opportunities Act (A.3536A/S.5749A), which would expand alternatives to incarceration and immediate record sealing for young people up to age 25 who are arrested and prosecuted as adults.

For more information, please see https://www.communitiesnotcagesny.org https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S5749

New York must also pass key parole justice legislation. No matter how much time has passed, New York’s Parole Board often denies parole based on the nature of the offense alone, despite someone’s accomplishments in prison and minimal public safety risk. Fair and Timely Parole (S.S7514/A.4231A) would ensure that the Parole Board evaluates already parole-eligible people based on who they are today, including their rehabilitation, personal transformation, and their current risk of violating the law. To address very long and life sentences that amount to de facto death penalty sentences, Elder Parole (S.15A/A.8855) allow people in New York State prison categorized by DOCCS as older adults (aged 55 and older) who have served 15 or more consecutive years an opportunity to be considered for parole.

For more information https://www.parolejusticeny.com/

Prisoners are consistently stripped of basic rights, dignity, and humanity. The disenfranchisement of people in prison is rooted in New York’s past racist policies designed in the 1800s to deny Black people the right to vote. New York can undo the ongoing legacy of this policy and the systematic disenfranchisement of Black and Latinx New Yorkers by Restoring Voting Rights for People in Prison (S.3073/A.6646).

Respecting the dignity of all New Yorkers also requires recognizing everyone’s right to gender self-determination. That’s why New York must pass the Gender Identity Respect, Dignity and Safety Act (S.4702A/A.5257A) on the state level and The Trans Prisoner Rights Act on the county level, which would ensure that people are placed and given access to commissary items based on their self-identified gender.

For more information: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S3073 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-KsumoUQGP6jrV-u1mVHl--ZPw2Xemu5/view?usp=share_link

Stop Violence in the Sex Trades (S.3075/A.849) would decriminalize sex work between consenting adults, which would reduce the violence sex workers encounter, including police exploitation, reduce STI transmission, improve services for sex workers, and empower sex workers to use harm reduction tools.

Even after people complete their sentences, punishment continues in the form of barriers to housing and jobs, and the endless threat of deportation and ICE detention based on past convictions. New Yorkers need a Clean Slate (S.1553B/A.6399A) through automatic criminal records sealing.

Every day, New Yorkers are arrested and imprisoned because they cannot afford to pay fines and fees. New York must End Predatory Court Fees (S.3979C/A.2348B), which are part of a racist system of taxation-by-citation that encourages policing for profit, criminalizes poverty, and endangers Black and brown communities. This legislation would eliminate court, parole, and probation fees, as well as mandatory minimum fines, and would end the practice of arresting and incarcerating people solely for an inability to pay fines and fees.

Newburgh Breathe Act:The Newburgh Breathe Act is a grassroot attempt at creating and sustaining meaningful law enforcement oversight in the City of Newburgh. This act and coalition emphasizes the importance of taking proactive measures to invest into our community members and provide additional resources and divest from more policing. Plenty of research enforces our stance that cities will not police their way out of the systemic issues plaguing low income, specifically Black, Brown, Indigenous and immigrant, communities.

For more information: https://www.cleanslateny.org/ https://nopriceonjustice.org/ https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S3075 https://docs.google.com/document/d/12j7Ks2pTmRRc3cj0XWLiaT_pBWsoVHYBhrTz2UuR6CI/edit?usp=share_link