Posted Oct. 2: AWAITING SUPREME COURT DECISION RE: TROY DAVIS
For the most current updates, visit www.troyanthonydavis.org
THE NEXT ISSUE OF BUILDING BRIDGES WILL BE COMING OUT AROUND OCTOBER 13.
BUILDING BRIDGES
September 22, 2008
Dear Reader,
This special edition will have some of the same columns as other months, but it will also prepare you for the events of October 25, 2008. We’re actually going to do something quite challenging at Family Empowerment Day 4. It’s not just going to be a day to hang out with others who have similar concerns about prison and parole and all the other issues surrounding incarceration. This year we are going to be meeting old friends again, and making new ones, but we’ll do it in the context of working together to create a plan. And so we need to prepare.
In order to achieve our goals, we need everyone there! If you have a loved one in prison and you want them to come home when they’re ready, then you need to show up. Because you have to be part of the process that makes that happen. You know it’s not what’s happening now. Many people are being denied parole 4, 5, 6, 7 and more times, despite having done everything possible to become a person with something positive to contribute to the family and the community they left so many years ago. They get denied solely for the nature of their crime, while others who haven’t made any changes in their behavior get released. It seems totally arbitrary and cruel, not to mention dangerous.
What can we do to make parole more fair, more just, and more rational? The chairman of parole will talk to us, and we’ll have an opportunity to ask him these questions. Is he doing anything to bring fairness, compassion and wisdom into the parole process? How can we help him? Who is this man and how much does he support what we want parole to be? Maybe he shares many of our goals, but hasn’t the authority to implement them. After all, he’s a government official with a job description. How much leeway does his job description and the law allow him in the pursuit of a safer and saner society?? This is our opportunity to find out, and to move forward with realistic expectations.
In order for everyone to be safe, there has to be a way where the decision about who is ready to come back into our communities is based on as much concrete evidence, risk assessment, and professional skill on the part of the commissioners as is humanly possible. Parole releases are not minor decisions! They affect all of us in a very serious way. It is time for change! Come to Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC and start to make change happen!
Please pass Building Bridges on. We all need to be on the same page!
Our new address is Prison Action Network, PO Box 6355, Albany NY 12206. Please send us a donation to support Family Empowerment Day 4. Checks can be made out to Prison Action Network.
In this Issue
1. Family Empowerment Day 4/NYC details and more details
2. Lifers and Long-termers Clearinghouse Alert
3. Parole
4. Prison media
5. Reentry, the long road home. Sonny Rudert and Julio Medina
6. Telephone Justice Campaign
7. What's Going On In New York State
8. Writing Contest
1. FAMILY EMPOWERMENT DAY 4/NYC - SPANISH TRANSLATION, FEP GENERAL MEETING ON OCT 11; LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY; CURRENT AGENDA; LISTS OF PANELISTS AND ADVISORS; TIPS FOR SUCCESS [ONE GOAL-ONE QUESTION]
WE ARE OFFERING SPANISH TRANSLATION
Spanish translators will be available throughout the day.
COME TO THE FAMILY EMPOWERMENT PROJECT GENERAL MEETING
Saturday October 11, from 3 - 5 pm, at the Fortune Society Academy on Riverside Drive and 140th St. #1 train stops at 137th. What could be easier? There's even parking, if you MUST drive your car.
We’ll meet to plan the details like registration, lunch, and a myriad of other details. This will be the orientation session for those volunteer jobs. We'll also be discussing the agenda, and how to compose your parole goal and your questions for Chairman Alexander. So it's like a pre-meeting.
Please confirm your attendance so we can make sure the space is large enough.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY FOR NEWCOMERS TO PAN AND FED
In 2005, at the request of the Otisville Lifers and Longtermers Group, Prison Action Network helped to promote a Family Empowerment Day to begin to organize and mobilize families and supporters of the incarcerated around parole policies that unfairly keep their loved ones behind bars.
The primary objective of FED1 was to educate family members about the policies that prevent eligible, community-ready people from being paroled; FED2 began to organize families and supporters; FED3 educated families about tools that can bring about change. This year, FED4 intends to mobilize families into a knowledgeable, efficient and active group of change agents.
THE AGENDA AS IT LOOKS CURRENTLY:
There are three main sections of FED4:
1) "The Visitors," a documentary film about families and loved ones who take the buses to visit incarcerated men upstate, will serve as both a mirror and an educational tool for families, loved ones and supporters who have faced the trials and tribulations of this experience. A panel discussion* following the screening will help us analyze and discuss these experiences in the context of the society in which we live.
2) The second part of the event deals specifically with the issue of parole. The Chairman of the NYS Division of Parole, George Alexander, will deliver a speech on the state of parole today. It will be followed by a question-and-answer period designed to give us clarity about what he can and cannot do. This question and answer period is not designed to get specific solutions to personal situations, but to gain some indication of where Chairman Alexander stands on the goals that are important to us.
3) In the third session, we will be guided to take ownership of a goal, state the goal clearly, and identify the steps necessary to achieve it. We will first analyze the Chairman's address, looking for the legal and political implications of what was said and not said. Using this information, we will then select a goal we want to work on from a list presented by participants. After input from a team of advisors** who have expertise in areas important to our cause, we'll take a vote. People can vote for as many of the goals as they support; we'll select the one with the most support. The remaining time will be used to strategize with our team of advisors, answer questions and prioritize the steps necessary for success.
FED4/NYC is about empowering people to choose a goal, learn how to achieve the goal, and do the work to achieve the goal. It won't happen without you!
*”The Visitors” Panelists:
Melis Birder: Producer and director of “The Visitors”, which was inspired by her own experiences traveling to visit a loved one. Ms. Birder is a native of Turkey. She studied documentary filmmaking at the New School and has directed and produced documentaries dealing extensively with social issues.
Denise Robinson: Worked as a bus coordinator on the Operation Prison Gap buses to Clinton where much of the film takes place. Her story is the thread that runs through the documentary.
Dr. Divine Pryor: Co founder and director of Nu Leadership Policy group, the world’s first and only academic center that was designed and developed and organized by formerly incarcerated professionals, for research and analysis by scholars for a full range of urban issues that affect incarceration, including affordable housing and full participation in society as a way of discouraging criminal activity.
Ernest Henry: Spent 24 consecutive years in prison. While incarcerated, he acquired his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees, chaired AVP for 10 years at Sing Sing, and received a Certificate in Ministry & Human Resources Program at Fishkill. After being released in Sept 2007, he found employment with the Osborne Association. He is a member of the Dutchess County Re-Entry Task Force, and a Transition and Re-Entry Specialist for CURE-NY.
Kathy Henry: Works as a graphic and web designer, and has been married to Ernest for nearly 10 years, eight of which were spent in the prison visiting room! During visits, they created two businesses to assist incarcerated people, Friends Beyond The Wall and Jaden Moore of NY, as well as NewYork Prisoners.com, a parole support web site for NYTS graduates. Kathy is a member of the Poughkeepsie Area Family Support Group and CURE-NY.
Rev. Vivian Nixon: Director of the College and Community Fellowship (CCF). Founded ReEnterGrace, a project that employs formerly incarcerated women and men to reach out to African American faith-based communities and educate them about the disparate impact of US criminal justice policies on people of color. Serves on advisory boards of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College, ICARE, and Reentry Net.
**The Action Planning Team of Advisors
Edwin (Eddie) Ellis: Host-producer of “On the Count: The Prison and Criminal Justice Report,” a weekly public affairs program on WBAI-FM in NYC, consultant for many organizations including the Council of State Governments, New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus, National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the Vera Institute of Justice.
Robert Isseks: Practices law in Middletown, NY, focusing on civil rights and constitutional law. He is one of the lead attorneys in Graziano vs. Pataki
Amy James-Oliveras: Co-director of C.U.R.E.-NY, and Co-Producer and Co-host of the Fancy Broccoli show, which has many incarcerated listeners.
Glenn E. Martin: Vice President of Development and Public Affairs at The Fortune Society, Inc. responsible for, among other things, developing and advancing Fortune’s criminal justice policy advocacy agenda. Drafted the updated version of How to Get and Clean Up Your New York State Rap Sheet, Sixth Edition, a manual to assist clients in obtaining and understanding how to read their state criminal records. Serves on a multitude of committees and boards addressing issues related to reintegration of people with criminal records.
Sheila Rule: President of Resilience Multimedia, a publishing company where she is channeling her passion for social justice into the world of social entrepreneurship, Ms. Rule volunteers with the Riverside Church Prison Ministry. Formerly worked as a journalist at The New York Times where her beats included the New York State Legislature, social services, the homeless and national civil rights.
Peter Sell: Practices law in NYC, specializing in criminal law and civil rights. He works with Robert Isseks as one of the lead attorneys in Graziano vs. Pataki.
Claudette R. Spencer Nurse:. Living in Trinidad since 2003 after husband was released from prison after serving 25 years and was deported there. Currently practices law in Trinidad. Co-founder of the Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR), an organization advocating for fair parole practices. She currently serves as the Administrative Coordinator for CPR.
William Eric Waters: Program Director at the Osborne Association, also Vice President of the Coalition for Parole Restoration, and Editor of its newsletter, The Deuce Club. He has a master’s degree from New York Theological Seminary and bachelor’s degrees from Albany University and the College at New Paltz.
IMPORTANT; PLEASE READ! TIPS FOR SUCCESS: “ONE GOAL; ONE QUESTION”
We recently contacted a small selection of our mailing list, asking them to name the one change they thought was necessary in order to bring their loved ones home. The response was immediate and voluminous! We received so many good and thoughtful responses, going into such detail, that we realized there's no way there will be time at the event to voice them all.
We want everyone's concerns to be heard. That's absolutely necessary if this is to be a grassroots movement, motivated by the concerns of those of us most directly impacted by parole practices. This is how we suggest accomplishing it:
1) Before arriving at the event, decide on the ONE CHANGE you and/or your incarcerated loved one think would make parole hearings more fair and equitable and increase the chance your loved one will come home when he or she is community-ready. [Be specific. Here are just a few examples to help you compose your goal: 1 Change the law so they can’t base a denial solely on the nature of the crime, except in the most egregious situations. 2 Respect the judge's sentence. 3 Develop definitive criteria. 4 Give the people appearing before the board ample time to explain the changes they’ve made in their life. 5 Record Parole Hearings in their entirety.]
Your goal, or one like it, will be added to the list of goals we vote on.
2) Since there will be only 30 minutes for the question-and-answer period following Chairman Alexander's speech, there won't be time to ask personal questions or tell our heartbreaking stories. Instead we urge you to prepare ONE QUESTION, of no more than 100 words, that's related to your goal. For example, if your goal was #5 above, your question to Chairman Alexander might be: "My loved one tells me that the minutes of his parole hearings not always accurate. We suggest implementing the practice of recording or videotaping parole hearings in their entirety, which would also allow for transparency and oversight. What do you think of that idea?" The chairman’s response will help us make our decision and plan our strategies. If someone else has already asked it, there’s no point in asking it again.
Please keep in mind that any changes proposed have to work for the good of us all, including our communities, in order to work for any one of us .
2. ALERT FOR LIFER AND LONG-TERMER ORGANIZATIONS - LARRY WHITE TALKS ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE THREE MAIN STAKEHOLDERS IN ACHIEVING FAIR AND JUST PAROLE POLICIES AND PAROLE BOARD DECISIONS
Progress on the outside requires certain moves on the inside. The Family Empowerment Day event this year features the appearance of the Chairman of the New York State Division of Parole, who has agreed to address a gathering of your families and supporters regarding the issue of parole. Now, that is a major development and represents progress by a community criminal justice advocacy organization that is dedicated to addressing the needs of those incarcerated in state prison.
The Prison Action Network did the work to bring about this major step to achieve fair and just parole policies and parole board decisions. But it is just a step in a protracted struggle. The struggle will be a long and hard one and must be a joint venture that involves 1) all those incarcerated in state prisons, 2) their families and supporters, and 3) the community-based advocacy groups and organizations that coordinate the struggle.
An effective joint venture is one with strong and supportive linkages between the parties involved, that is, between prison organizations, the families and supporters of those who are incarcerated, and the community-based advocacy organizations. It will be informative and instructive to quickly examine the role of these three stakeholders. The incarcerated are required to unify themselves into approved prison organizations that work to develop linkage with community advocacy organizations. Linkage is the process of identifying, contacting, and establishing collaboration with community-based advocacy groups and organizations. (Identifying community organizations in the nearby area of your particular facility may be extremely difficult, but you can contact Prison Action Network in such instances.)
Once linkage has been established, the prison organization must support and help fund the joint efforts it undertakes with the community advocacy organization. This is crucially important because prison organizations must never appear to be helpless or inadequate in the face of struggle. Approved prison organizations have the ability to generate funds by the operation of franchises, and that too is an undertaking that prison organizations can collaborate with the community-based advocacy group to achieve.
Financial support for the Family Empowerment Day event is an obligation of approved prison groups and organizations, and incarcerated individuals as well, because all will benefit from fair and just parole policies and parole board decisions. That is what is meant by the term “stakeholder” – they all have a direct interest, a “stake” in the outcome of an undertaking.
Now lets take a cursory look at the role of families, loved-ones and supporters of the incarcerated. Families, loved-ones, and supporters play a valued role in the struggle for fair and just release policies. By the nature of their relationship with those who are imprisoned, families, loved-ones, and supporters are in close, personal contact with incarcerated individuals and are more readily able to state their personal cause than community-based advocacy organizations that have a more direct linkage with the leadership of prison organizations.
This means that families, loved-ones, and supporters are able to speak with a more personal and detailed fervor not only about the incarcerated, but about their own trails and tribulations suffered as a result of the prolonged incarceration of their loved-ones. There are a number of families-of-prisoners organizations and every person who is incarcerated should encourage their family, loved-ones and supporters to become a member of one of them.
One of the primary aims of the Family Empowerment Day 4 event is to initiate a movement to unify the efforts of these various families-of-prisoners groups and organizations around the issue of parole. Initiating a movement entails an educational process in which families are presented with information that not only increases their knowledge of the political workings of parole policy and practices, but what direct actions they can take to initiate change.
As they mature in their understanding, knowledge and strategies, they impart all this to their incarcerated loved ones and this exchange develops into a more unified, effective and decisive relationship that truly empowers both.
Community-based advocacy organizations, like the Prison Action Network, that are committed to working directly with incarcerated individuals are few and hard to find. With the ascendancy of reentry as the dominate concern of criminal justice service provider organizations, more attention is being focused on dealing with the problems that occur after release from imprisonment than during incarceration. That is why organizations like Prison Action Network, CURE-NY and the Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR) need to receive the support of all those behind the walls, especially by prison organizations.
Lifer and long-termer organizations are the premier prison group because they represent that segment of the general population that has more time to serve and therefore more at stake when it comes to matters of release and prison conditions. Other prison organizations are no less responsible for providing leadership to the general population in the struggle for early release laws and policies, and the improvement of prison conditions. All organized segments of the prison population must share the burden of providing financial support to those community advocacy groups that lead the charge on behalf of the incarcerated.
It is crucial that prison organizations keep abreast of what is being done by community groups to bring about fair and just parole laws and policies and the three newsletters that should be subscribed to and read for up-to-date information are “BUILDING BRIDGES”, the voice of Prison Action Network, CURE-NY, the news organ of CURE-NY, and “THE DEUCE CLUB”, the official newsletter of the Coalition for Parole Restoration.
Larry White
PAN Board Member
3. PAROLE - GRAZIANO UPDATE; FACILITY STATISTICS FROM ARTHUR KILL, OTISVILLE, AND WOODBOURNE PRISONS; REPORT ON RESCISSION HEARING .
THE GRAZIANO VS PATAKI case has been assigned to the Honorable Cathy Siebel. The lawyers are scheduling the final depositions and the case should be ready for motions right after that.
PAROLE BOARD STATS. Release info for a1 violent felons [A1VO] is not available for this edition, since it is only mid-month. We will be publishing August and September statistics in our October Edition which is scheduled for October 17.
Not all the reports are in from the individual prison reporters either, but here’s what we do have.
August, September 2008 Releases based on Reports from the Inside:
ARTHUR KILL
August-September - Casey, Lemons, Hernandez
83 saw the board, 30 were granted parole
31 were initial interviews; 11 were granted parole
45 were reappearances; 12 were granted parole
7 were merit time interviews, all seven received dates
11 of those released were Lifers, according to an unofficial count. Two with 25-Life on initial appearance; two with 25-Life on 2nd board; one with 25-Life on 3rd board, one 20-Life on 6th. Five others made it, but their sentences and which appearance, are not known.
OTISVILLE
August - Hernandez and Lemmons
6 Lifers were released.
WOODBOURNE
August - Grant, Greenan, Ross
11 saw the board; 2 (1 A1VO) were granted parole, (1 flat bid also released)
Of those denied, 4 were A1VO, 3 were reappearances, 1 was initial
SHU’AIB ABDUR RAHEEM’S RESCISSION HEARING ON FRI. SEPT. 5.
I attended the hearing and as a layperson I was quite impressed with the perseverance of his lawyer, Lawrence Stern, who was well prepared and diligent in his arguments. The opposing lawyer made strong arguments also, so we will have to wait to see what the judge decides. From all reports, no matter what the judgment based on the law is, the moral judgment is that Mr. Raheem is a changed man, and eminently deserving of his freedom. We hope the judge feels the law supports this. Unfortunately there were only two of us there to support him. Probably because at the last minute the time of the hearing was changed from the morning to the afternoon. It’s unknown how many people took time off in the morning, and could not return in the afternoon.
4. PRISON MEDIA - FANCY BROCCOLI ON THE RADIO; STILL HERE, HARLEM PRODUCTIONS, INC ON TV.
Rudy and Betty Cypser will be on the Fancy Broccoli Show on October 5 to talk about some new developments in the effort to restore higher education in prison. “Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews.
Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, has formed his own TV production company, Still Here, Harlem Productions Inc. You can see his work at www.ovntv.com, Channel 35 or on myspace.com/376646829. Starting on September 25, he will be on MNN channel 34 at 7:30 every Thursday. Jazz can be reached at 201 West 138th St. Suite 1, New York, NY 10030, Office: 212-234-0596, Cell: 917-753-3771, Jhayden512@aol.com
5. REENTRY
"The long road home: two ex-inmates talk about re-entering society," Julio Medina and Sonny Rudert, Purchase College, SUNY, 735 Anderson Hill Rd, Purchase, NY 10022, 914-251-6500, Tues, Oct 14, 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Free and open to the public.
6. TELEPHONE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN, CCR - THE NY STATE COMPTROLLER IS CURRENTLY INVESTIGATING GLOBAL TEL*LINK’S CLAIMS THAT THE BIDDING PROCESS FOR THE NY PRISON TELEPHONE CONTRACT WAS UNFAIR.
The Telephone Justice Campaign knows that it was fair because it complied with the Family Connections bill, which we all worked together to get passed last year. The Telephone Justice Campaign is circulating a petition to the Comptroller asking that they speed up the process and give us our new contract!
It has been more than a year since we passed the Family Connections Act and ended the 57.5 percent kickback to the State on all prison calls.
Write the State Comptroller at Office of the State Comptroller,110 State Street
Albany, NY 12236, who is currently investigating complaints by the phone company that previously held the contract, that he should approve the new contract now so that families can finally get the fair rate they deserve.
In related news this week, CCR attorney Darius Charney made oral arguments in an appeal before the New York State Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the unlawful tax. We asked the court to reverse the most recent dismissal in Walton v. NYSDOCS and allow families to be compensated for 10 years of the unjust, illegal tax, which amounted to $225 million out of their pockets. It is also critical that the court rule in the case so that no future administration can bring back the kickback contract.
-- Annette Dickerson, Director of Education and Outreach, Center for Constitutional Rights
WHATS GOING ON IN NEW YORK STATE
BUFFALO:
From Karima Amin:
Dear PRP2 Family: Please forgive this late notice. Many of you know that I have been caring for my father in recent weeks. At age 91, he was (is) my most ardent PRP2 supporter, never missing a monthly meeting in three years, until last month. You will also note that I have not written an article this month. However, our 4th Monday meeting (09-22-08) is still scheduled to take place. Come if you can. Peace. -ka
Date: Monday, September 22, 2008 Time: 6:30-8:30pm Place: Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street, Buffalo
Topic: Abuse in America's Prisons
Documentary Film: "Torture: America's Brutal Prisons" (2005, Icarus Films)....48 min., color.....ages 14+.... The report of the horrendous treatment of enemy soldiers by American soldiers in 2004 at Abu Ghraib in Iraq was a shock to the American public. That same public is woefully lacking in the knowledge of the vicious and humiliating treatment that prisoners experience on a daily basis right here in America.
Guest Speaker: Mr. Gary Craig- Investigative Reporter from Rochester's "Democrat and Chronicle" newspaper. In the mid-1990's, Mr. Craig was instrumental in uncovering prisoner abuse in Albion Prison, a prison for women in New York State.
7. WRITING CONTEST - “THINK OUTSIDE THE CELL” RESILIENCE MULTIMEDIA, PUBLISHER OF THE WIDELY PRAISED BOOK, “THINK OUTSIDE THE CELL: AN ENTREPRENEUR’S GUIDE FOR THE INCARCERATED AND FORMERLY INCARCERATED,” IS SPONSORING A WRITING CONTEST FOR PERSONAL STORIES TO BE INCLUDED IN BOOKS IN OUR “THINK OUTSIDE THE CELL SERIES.” THE SERIES HELPS THE INCARCERATED AND FORMERLY INCARCERATED TACKLE HARD CHALLENGES AND HAVE SUCCESSFUL LIVES.
Story Topics: Reentering society after incarceration, Waiting for loved ones to return home from prison, Prison marriages and relationships
Prizes: Three winners will be chosen for each topic: 1st Place: $300, 2nd Place: $150, 3rd Place: $ 75
Stories that do not win cash prizes will still be eligible for inclusion in the series.
Writers whose stories are selected will receive a free copy of the book in which their work appears.
Rules: All stories must be original and about situations or events that actually happened.
You may submit stories on more than one topic.
Stories may be up to 3,000 words.
Stories should be typewritten and double-spaced.
Handwritten stories will be accepted as long as they are legible.
Each page must include page number, your name, contact information and story title.
Resilience Multimedia reserves the right to edit stories for clarity, punctuation, spelling and grammar.
Story entries will not be returned.
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY NOVEMBER 30, 2008. WINNERS AND OTHER SELECTED STORIES WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FEBRUARY 1, 2009 IN A PRESS RELEASE.
How to Enter:
Email your story, indicating which topic it is intended for, to:
resiliencemultimedia@verizon.net
OR mail your story to: Resilience Multimedia, 511 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 525, New York, NY 10011
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
SEPTEMBER 2008
Please scroll down past the late breaking news to get to the Building Bridges monthly newsletter.
Posted 9/15; from People's Movement
"What do we want?-JUSTICE!"
"When do we want it?-NOW!"
Many of you are fully aware of the activities we have engaging on in order to
bring about much needed change and fair opportunities for our fellow peers.
One of the issue's we've been waging against is the creation of the new bronx
jail being planned for hunts point, thus i forward this new website so that the
resources being provided can be fully utilized and passed on to the families,
friends, and loved one's with someone in jail whom you may know of.Let's
continue to ensure that those already in nyc jails with a mental illness
diagnosis recieves prior to being released appropriate discharge planning.
Let us continue with our push for crisis intervention teams within the
precienct here in nyc so that we may be able to keep our peers from being
placed in jail, possibly being hurt by an nypd officer due to not being
appropriately trained to handle situations involving peers overwhelmed
psychiatrically.
We are having our next meeting on September 17th, 2008 at 1750 Davidson Avenue
-(East 176st Street, in the bronx)- the meeting is being held within the
community room at 6pm.
contact lisa via phone @ 646-260-6575 or carlos @ 718-825-9284
looking forward to seeing you all there.
For those who hadn't noticed, the New York City Board of Correction now has a
website:
www.nyc.gov/html/boc/html/home/home.shtml"
"Only Through Direct Action Will Change Take Place".....
Posted September 15; from Amnesty International re: TROY DAVIS:
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole denied clemency to Troy Anthony Davis on September 12, but can revisit this decision at any time between now and September 23.
In July 2007, they issued a decision to stay the execution of Troy Davis in July 2007, stating that the Board "will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused." In March, the Georgia Supreme Court denied Troy Davis a hearing, so doubts of his guilt will always remain. Therefore we urge them to commute his sentence.
Mr. Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 15 years for the murder of a police officer he maintains that he did not commit. Davis' conviction was not based on any physical evidence, and the murder weapon was never found. Instead, the case was based solely on the testimony of witnesses, many of whom now allege police coercion, and most of whom have since recanted their testimony. Despite mounting evidence that Davis may in fact be innocent of the crime, appeals to courts to hold a hearing on this evidence have been repeatedly denied for procedural reasons.
This case has generated widespread attention, which reflects serious concerns in Georgia and throughout the United States about the potential for executing an innocent man. Nothing can undermine public faith in a criminal justice system faster than an execution when serious doubts about guilt have not been resolved. The power of clemency exists as a safety net to prevent such an irreversible error and preserve public confidence in the state’s capacity for justice. The integrity of justice in Georgia is at stake in this case.
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole can either take into account compelling evidence challenging his guilt, or they will choose to ignore that evidence and allow his sentence to stand. They have to power to stop this indefensible execution and we must implore them to make the right decision.
Can you take 30 seconds and help save the life of a man who is almost certainly innocent? You can learn more and take action here:
takeaction.amnestyusa.org
Posted September 15, from Telephone Justice Campaign,CCR:
The NY State Comptroller is currently investigating Global Tel*Link’s claims that the bidding process for the NY prison telephone contract was unfair. We know that it was fair because it complied with the Family Connections bill, which we all worked together to get passed last year. Please click on the link in the message below to sign a petition to the Comptroller asking that they speed up the process and give us our new contract!
in struggle,
___________________ _____________________
lauren melodia | center for constitutional rights | 666 broadway 7th floor | ny ny 10012 | 212.614.6481 | lmelodia@ccrjustice.org
Dear Supporter,
Put an end to 10 years and $225 million of an illegal NYDOCS tax.
Sign a petition to the New York State Comptroller and help expedite a new prison telephone contract to ease the financial burden on families with loved ones in New York State prisons. It has been more than a year since we passed the Family Connections Act and ended the 57.5 percent kickback to the State on all prison calls.
Tell the State Comptroller, who is currently investigating complaints by the phone company that previously held the contract, that he should approve the new contract now so that families can finally get the fair rate they deserve.
In related news this week, CCR attorney Darius Charney made oral arguments in an appeal before the New York State Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the unlawful tax. We asked the court to reverse the most recent dismissal in Walton v. NYSDOCS and allow families to be com pensated for 10 years of the unjust, illegal tax, which amounted to $225 million out of their pockets. It is also critical that the court rule in the case so that no future administration can bring back the kickback contract.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Annette Dickerson
Director of Education and Outreach
Center for Constitutional Rights
BUILDING BRIDGES, SEPTEMBER EDITION:
Dear Reader,
Are you aware that volunteers produce Building Bridges and present Family Empowerment Day and don’t get paid one penny for their labors? In fact money comes out of our pockets when there's a shortage. We don't do it for the glory, believe me. Sometimes our loved ones complain bitterly that we spend more time doing PAN work than with them. But we do it because working for justice is the best antidote to despair there is! We invite you to join us in this work and the spiritual rewards it brings.
To make Family Empowerment Day 4 a success, we need everyone reading these words to spread the word, encourage everyone in your family and circle of friends to attend, and dig into your pockets to help pay for it. No amount is too small. We've always paid for it with lots and lots of small donations plus a few big ones from people who can afford it. What's important is that in the end we all can feel proud of what we accomplished together.
I've been wondering why it should be so hard to achieve the changes we seek. We aren't asking for anything that would not benefit everyone, so why do we come up against so many obstacles? We're asking for justice, fairness, forgiveness, and second chances. Those are the values we believe in. Who on earth does not want to be treated justly and fairly, forgiven when we do wrong, and given a second chance to do right? Well, if we want it for ourselves then we must provide it for everyone. It could be you next who is unjustly arrested, convicted or held forever in prison. For some readers it already has been.
Many of our opponents scream "public safety!" whenever anyone is released on parole. Understandably they're afraid that someone who’s released will commit another crime. We all want to live in a safe society, not worrying that harm can befall us at any moment. But I believe it’s more likely that we’ll be harmed by injustice, inequity, inequality, prejudice and hate than from crimes against property or life. If you agree, please join me at Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC when we plan to take action in support of OUR values: Public Safety through Justice, Fairness, Equality, Acceptance, and Love!
Our new mailing address is Prison Action Network, PO Box 6355, Albany NY 12206. (Where you can send donations for Family Empowerment Day! Please....)
In this Issue:
1. Abuse of women in prison
2. Clemency study looking for people
3. Family Empowerment Day 4/NYC
4. FBI urges public tours of prisons
5. Legislative updates
6. Lifers and Longtermers Clearinghouse
7. Parole
8. Prison radio
9. Reentry
10. School to prison pipeline
11. Transportation to prisons
12. Voting
13. What's happening around New York State
1. ABUSE OF WOMEN IN PRISON: MORE THAN 50 PER CENT OF ALL WOMEN IN U.S. PRISONS HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ABUSED
Excerpts from an article published Monday, Aug 11, 2008, By Kaleem Omar, The News (Pakistan)
[send for complete article by sending a request to PAN]
More than 50 per cent of all female prisoners in the United States have experienced some form of sexual abuse. Seventy per cent of guards in the 170 state prison facilities for women across the United States are men. In Canadian women’s prisons, 91 per cent of the guards are female.
An Amnesty International report says, “Sexual abuse is virtually a fact of life for incarcerated women in the US.” The report’s findings are reinforced by a study conducted by the US-based Human Rights Watch, which says that “being a woman prisoner in American prisons can be a terrifying experience.”
It can be examined in terms of powerlessness, humiliation, retaliation and fear. If a woman is sexually abused, she cannot escape from her abuser. Grievances or investigatory procedures, where they do exist, are often ineffectual, and correctional employees continue to engage in abuse because they believe they will rarely be held accountable, administratively or criminally. The women are often afraid to report such incidences. Guards frequently threaten to take away visitation rights to keep them quiet. Male correctional officers and staff have also engaged in regular verbal degradation and harassment of female prisoners, thus contributing to a custodial environment in the state prisons for women, which is often highly sexualised and excessively hostile.
In some instances, women have been impregnated as a result of sexual misconduct, and some of these prisoners have faced additional abuse in the form of inappropriate segregation, denial of adequate health care, and/or pressure to seek an abortion, says the Human Rights Watch report. One of the clear contributing factors to sexual misconduct in US prisons for women is that the United States, despite authoritative international rules to the contrary, allows male correctional employees to hold contact positions over prisoners, that is, positions in which they serve in constant physical proximity to the prisoners of the opposite sex.
Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules), which constitute an authoritative guide to international law regarding the treatment of prisoners, male officers are precluded from holding such contact positions. However, since the passage of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, US employers have been prohibited from denying a person a job solely on the basis of gender unless the person’s gender was reasonably necessary to the performance of the specific job.
2. CLEMENCY STUDY LOOKING FOR PEOPLE CONVICTED UNDER THE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS
Clemency study looking for people convicted under the Rockefeller Drug Laws who have submitted clemency appeals or are thinking of doing so. Please contact Prison Action Network for more information or to submit your/another person's name and DIN with a short (100 word) description of why you think your/their situation is particularly deserving.
3. FAMILY EMPOWERMENT DAY 4/NYC: SPANISH-ENGLISH TRANSLATOR NEEDED; STRUCTURE OF EVENT EXPLAINED
Translator: We received an unsolicited Spanish translation of the FED4/NYC flyer in the mail, which was a wonderful gift, but it doesn’t make sense to use it unless we can provide translators for the event itself. If you are, or know anyone who is, fluent enough in both English and Spanish to provide rapid on the spot translation, we would like to to discuss how to provide this service for the many Spanish-only speakers in our community. Please contact PAN at 518 253 7533 or email us.
Structure of FED4/NYC: We are very ambitious about what we want to accomplish this year. We are truly tired of doing nothing but talk. The Family Empowerment Project Executive Committee did its best to create an agenda that will take people step by step through a process that starts with analyzing important issues and ends with a goal and a game plan. In order to do that, we are going to need to stay VERY focused, because the process needs to happen within a limited number of hours. It is very important that everyone is there for the whole day (9am-4pm). Each part of the process is necessary for the success of the last session, where we "get down to business!"
It’s an interactive event; that's why we’re investing big bucks to rent the Columbia Law School building with microphones at every seat. We’re urging participants to come prepared with well thought out questions and suggestions, all focused on getting the answers you need to decide on a goal at the end of the day.
The day will include the screening of “The Visitors,” a documentary about families who take the buses to upstate New York prisons. It will be followed by a panel discussion which will point out the film’s relevance to parole issues. The panel will be composed of Melis Birder, the filmmaker; Denise Robinson, one of the main characters in the film; Dr. Divine Pryor, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions; Ernest Henry, who received visitors while incarcerated; his wife Kathy Ernest,who visited him; and the moderator and analyst, Rev. Vivian Nixon, who, as a formerly incarcerated person herself, will add an imprisoned woman's perspective to the discussion.
Lunch will provide time for talking to friends new and old, and for visiting the Action Tables where representatives of organizations will be able to answer questions and where there will be actions that can be taken then and there, such as petitions and letters to sign, pledges to be involved in some future event or to vote, taking part in a video interview on the impact of incarceration, and more. There will be a table where family members can sit with their parole support petitions. (Please call or email PAN to reserve space.)
Parole Chairman George Alexander will give a keynote speech on "The State of Parole Today". Rev. Dr. Mark Chapman, who has been part of every FED since its inception, will moderate the Q&A session that follows. We hope participants will confine themselves to one question per person, and keep it general and focused on clarifying what Alexander, as the head of parole, can do or can't do, to restore justice and fairness to the parole process. We want to find out how/if we can support him in bringing deserving parole candidates home, and how/if he can support whatever action we decide to take to make that possible.
There will be a short time between the keynote speech and the action planning session for participants to debrief after hearing Mr. Alexander. Following the debriefing, we'll move on to suggestions for goals with assistance from our team of advisors: Eddie Ellis, host of WBAI’s “On the Count!: The Prison & Criminal Justice Report”; Robert Isseks and Peter Sell, lead attorneys in Graziano vs. Pataki; Amy James-Oliveras, Co-host and Co-producer of the Fancy Broccoli Show; Glenn Martin, Vice President of Development and Public Affairs of the Fortune Society; Sheila Rule, Publisher, Resilience Multimedia; and others who have not yet formally confirmed. The advisors will comment on the goals suggested by families and other representatives of people in prison, and perhaps suggest some that weren't mentioned. Then we'll vote, using Approval Voting, where people vote for all of the goals they would support, and the goal with the most votes wins. Our advisors will then help us plan how to achieve the goal. We'll announce the time and place of the next meeting before leaving.
At the very end, participants will be given evaluation forms and a raffle will be held. Raffle tickets will be the completed evaluation sheets (which will include a space where participants can sign up to work to achieve our goal). Prize to be announced.
4. FBI URGES PUBLIC TOURS OF PRISONS
I draw your attention to an article in the June 2008 edition of the FBI's Law Enforcement Bulletin. The FBI agent-author's article openly encourages public officials to permit public tours of their jails for various stated reasons. This is huge! That magazine is widely read across the law enforcement and legal world and carries great influence. I say we now walk thru the door the FBI has opened. For too long the jails have been a closed society. You can access the article at: www.fbi.gov and choose publications, then Law Enforcement Bulletin, then June 2008
- joe gonzalez
5. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ON BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR PATERSON; SOME CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT THE PAROLE DISCRETION LAW AND A QUESTION ABOUT THE PRS LAW [copies available by emailing the number of the bill to PAN.]
A9727/S6731 - RESTORING DISCRETION TO THE PAROLE BOARD, SIGNED BY THE GOVERNMENT ON JULY 21ST
Introduced by M.of A. AUBRY, and Sen. VOLKER: An act to amend the executive law, in relation to restoring discretion to the board of parole to discharge any person for whom the board of parole is satisfied that a discharge from parole supervision would be in the best interests of society
Some clarifications: From 1930 to 1998 the Board of Parole had discretion to grant discharge from parole supervision after three consecutive years of unrevoked parole to any person for whom the Board of Parole determined that such discharge would be in the best interest of society. In 1998, however, discretion to grant a discharge from parole was removed for one class of persons - those who had been sentenced to an indeterminate sentence with a maximum sentence of life. This bill restores that option for those people.
Note #1: This law does not make release from parole automatic or even mandatory. Parole officers will have the discretion to release people from parole whenever (after at least 3 years) and if ever they think it's good for the community and good for the parolee. Some people might NEVER be discharged. In the best of worlds the decision would depend on the person's behaviors.
Note #2: We're dealing with a big bureaucracy here! It will take awhile to put the procedures in place. Estimates have been made for early September before all parole officers will all have been officially notified of their new discretionary powers, and another 30 days before all the policies may be in place and ready for implementation.
A10288A/S7638A - THE EMPLOYER EDUCATION ACT, which was described in the August Building Bridges, was signed into law by the Governor on Aug. 8.
Thanks to everyone who called the Governor's office to voice your support. And congratulations to the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy which worked hard to get the bill passed!
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Does any reader know of a lawyer working on a class action suit for those who were illegally incarcerated without post release supervision? A man who recently was released from a year's time for being late for curfew wants to know, because it turns out he never had PRS on his commitment, and a judge ordered him released. Email PAN.
6. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE - SPECIAL NEEDS OF LIFERS-WITHOUT-PAROLE ARE ACKNOWLEDGED AND A NEW COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN FORMED TO ADDRESS THEM.
This is an alert to all approved organizations operated by incarcerated individuals, and concerns those who are serving life-without-parole sentences. There are more than 200 persons serving life-without-parole sentences in the N.Y.State prison system and they are housed primarily in maximum security facilities where their numbers are relatively small.
They represent the truly left behind for they have received the ultimate penal sentence of having to spend the remainder of their life in prison. They are condemned and abandoned in that they receive no special provision from the department of correctional services; no adjustment or coping programs or counseling services are provided or have been developed to meet their unique needs.
For the convicted person sentenced to spend the remainder of their life in prison, the mechanics of "doing time" becomes their total experience rather than simply an interruption in their life. Lifers-without-parole are not tourists in prison; they are not "just passing through."
The plight of those serving such sentences has come to the attention of both the commissioner of corrections as well as community advocates of the incarcerated, and efforts are being marshaled to address their special needs. As leader in such efforts and someone who has served time and worked with lifers, those serving extended sentences, and those serving life-without-parole, I want to bring to the attention of the leadership of lifer and other approved prison organizations the need to address the special concerns of lifers-without-parole.
Because their numbers are relatively small it is unlikely that facility administrations will approve organizational status for lifers-without-parole. However, approved lifer and long-termer organizations can establish committees to address special concerns and they might consider setting up a committee that would address lifer-without-parole concerns and be headed and composed entirely of such persons.
It is important that Lifers-without-parole have some organizational or group structure to be identified with, because a new community organization named "The Doing Justice Coalition" has been formed to address the needs of lifers and long-termers and specifically lifers-without-parole. The Doing Justice Coalition is a collaborative partnership between faith communities and criminal and social justice practitioners to improve criminal justice outcomes by integrating the basic concepts of faith, hope and enduring beliefs with evidence-based practices and non-traditional approaches to criminal justice.
The Doing Justice Coalition is in the process of developing orientation and direction programs for persons serving extended prison terms. Members plan to visit as soon as institutional authorization is given, to form linkages with lifer and long-termer organizations. More on this subject in the next issue of Building Bridges.
--Larry White
Co-chair, Prison Action Network Clearinghouse Project
7. PAROLE: JENNIFER ARENA LEFT AFTER HER TERM EXPIRED, JOSEPH CRANGLE IS NEW COMMISSIONER, AND THERE'S AN EMPTY SEAT; YEAR-TO-DATE A1VO PAROLE RELEASES; FACILITY STATISTICS FROM ARTHUR KILL, FISHKILL, FRANKLIN, GROVELAND, MID-ORANGE, OTISVILLE, WOODBOURNE AND WYOMING PRISONS; RARE RESCISSION HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 9/5
PAROLE BOARD APPOINTMENTS:
Jennifer Arena is gone from the Parole Board, much to the relief of everyone who knew that she lacked the minimum qualifications specified for the job. Joseph Crangle is newly appointed. Since 2000 he has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York. There is now one empty seat remaining on the Board.
PAROLE BOARD RELEASES – A1 VIOLENT FELONS [A1VO]
Year to Date A1VO Parole Release Summary - unofficial research from parole database
Year to date through July 31 there were 106 initial interviews with 7 released: 7%
Year to date through July 31 there were 721 reappearances with 94 released: 13%
In total, 827 appearances with 101 releases: 12% release rate through July 31.
July A1VO Parole Release Summary – unofficial research from parole database
120 interviews (no women) of which 14 were initial appearances and 106 were reappearances
15 people were granted parole*
2 were released on their initial interview
13 were released on a reappearance
*List of the 15 July A1VO parole releases by prison:
Initial:
Otisville : 25-Life for Murder 2nd degree on his 1st board.
Washington : 20-Life for M2 on 1st
Reappearances:
Cape Vincent : 25-Life for Murder on 6th board
Clinton : 15-Life for Murder 2nd degree on 4th
Fishkill : 15-Life for M2 on 2nd
Gouverneur : 15-Life for M2 on 2nd
Gowanda : 25-Life for M on 8th
Gowanda : 25-Life for M2 on 5th
Great Meadow : 20-Life for M2 on 7th or 8th
Hudson : 15-Life for M2 on 7th
Mt McGregor : 17-Life for M2 on 3rd
Mid-Orange : 15-Life for M2 on 7th or 8th
Oneida : 22.5-Life for M2 on 6th
Otisville : 20-Life for M2 on 4th or 5th
Otisville : 17-Life for M2 on 6th
May, June, July, August 2008 Releases based on Reports from the Inside:
ARTHUR KILL
July-August - Ferguson, Arena, Thompson
60 saw the board, 5 were granted parole
25 were initial interviews; 3 were granted parole
34 were reappearances; 1 was granted parole
1 parole violator was released
FISHKILL
August - Casey, Grant, Hagler (with Mary Ross observing)
7 A1VOs saw the board, 2 made it, one 15-Life on 1st board after a July split decision, the other a 20-L on 4th board after July split decision.
FRANKLIN
July
12 merit hearings; 5 were granted
17 initial interviews; 8 were granted
14 reappearances; 4 granted
2 parole violations; both denied
2 PIE (?); both denied
2 Conditional releases; both denied.
1 Supplement Merit (?); denied
August:
5 merit hearings; 2 granted
21 initial interviews; 2 granted
2 presumptive releases; 1 granted
12 reappearances; 1 granted
6 parole violators; 6 granted
2 PIE; both denied
12 conditional releases; 12 granted
1 supplement merit; denied
MID-ORANGE
August - Henandez, Lemmons
24 were interviewed; 12 made it! (7 A1VO, 1 Persistant Lifer, 4 non-Lifers)
OTISVILLE
May - Ludlow, Thompson, Smith
42 were interviewed; 9 made it.
Of the 33 denied, 29 were reappearances, 4 were initials.
June- Ludlow, Casey, Ortloff
37 were interviewed; 5 (3 Lifers) made it.
July - Ferguson, Lemmons, Hagler
18 were interviewed; 5 (3 were Lifers) made it.
WOODBOURNE
July - Lemons, Ferguson, Thompson
29 saw the board; 3 (1 A1VO) were granted parole
Of those denied, 7 were A1VO
WYOMING
August - Kevin Ludlow, Chris Ortloff, William Casey
24 saw the board; 2 were granted parole
13 were initial interviews; none were granted parole
5 were reappearances; 1 was granted
6 were merit boards; 1 was granted
INDIVIDUALS RELEASED: A PAN member and close friend was granted parole in August, and we are sooo excited! But he doesn’t want us to identify him for reasons that are personal. We had to say something..., so: “We can’t wait til you are home, working with us on the outside!”
RARE RESCISSION HEARING ON FRI. SEPT. 5.
In 1973 Shu'aib Abdur Raheem was convicted of murdering a police officer in a robbery. Since his sentencing he has been a model prisoner, staying out of trouble and earning college degrees as well as helping other incarcerated men. He expresses remorse, and in November 2007 he was granted parole. The Patrolman's Benevolent Assoc. was outraged, marshaled their forces and found a loophole that sabotaged Raheem's release. On February 8, 2008, the parole board caved in and rescinded Raheem's release.
Shu'aib Abdur Raheem will face a rare "rescission hearing" on September 5 in Albany County Supreme Court, on Eagle Street, across from City Hall. It’s scheduled for 10:30 am. Index # 3883-08. Shu'aib A. Raheem v. Board of Parole.. He requests as many of you as are willing, to be there to support him.
8. PRISON RADIO -
Paulie Santos will be on the Fancy Broccoli Show on September 13. He’ll be talking about his journey from childhood to his present living situation at the Fortune Society Academy. No other interviews are scheduled for September.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews.
Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
9. REENTRY: “WOMEN, REENTRY AND EVERYDAY LIFE: TIME TO WORK?”; HELP NEEDED TO FIND PROGRAMS MANDATED BY PAROLE; CHARLES J. HYNES, KINGS COUNTY DA, DESCRIBES HIS REENTRY PROGRAM CALLED COM ALERT
The Prisoner Reentry Institute invites you to attend our Fall Occasional Series on Reentry Research kick-off event on Friday, September 12, 2008 from 8:30am to 10:00am. Venezia Michalsen, a professor at Montclair State University and formerly the Research Director at Women’s Prison Association (WPA), will present the results of a new WPA report “Women, Reentry and Everyday Life: Time to Work?” Respondents will include Alison Link, a Consultant at the Leisure Link, and Nancy O’Brien, Transitional Advocate at the Center for Community Alternatives.
Location: John Jay College of Criminal Justice (899 10th Ave, between 58th - 59th Streets) Room 630. Please RSVP to Amelia Thompson (212-484-1399;amthompson@jjay.cuny.edu).
Prison Action Network has been told by people on parole that they're mandated by their parole officers to take certain programs as a condition of their parole, but you're on your own to find one. Sounds like ComALERT, featured below, might have some answers, if you qualify. But we’d like to make it easier, so if you attend a group other than ComALERT - an anger management group or any other type of program, either in fulfillment of parole's demands, or just because you want it, please send us the days, times, place, and contact numbers. Please rate it on a scale of 1-10, 10 being very useful and 1 being a waste of time. We'll pass the information on to our readers.
CHARLES J. HYNES, Kings County District Attorney, has developed a reentry program called ComALERT. He wrote this about it:
Finding a job in today’s economy is difficult enough for a college graduate. Imagine how difficult it is for an offender who has just been released from prison and is trying to re-establish himself in the community. Eventually, many of the 65,000 offenders currently incarcerated in the New York State prison system will return to our communities under some form of probation or parole supervision. Sadly, many will be back in prison within three years due to a new arrest or parole violation. This cycle of failure is devastating to the offenders, their families and their neighborhoods.
As District Attorney, I recognized the need for law enforcement and community service providers to work together to find a solution to the problem of recidivism. Toward that end, I developed a program called ComALERT – Community and Law Enforcement Resources Together. ComALERT represents a coalition of service providers who help released offenders by counseling them on a host of issues ranging from housing, education, and employment to physical and mental health, and substance abuse. ComALERT provides the help these ex-offenders need in order to resist the temptation to return to a life of crime.
ComALERT reduces crime and also makes good economic sense. Each time a person is re-arrested and sent to jail, it costs taxpayers $175 a day to house him. Contrast that with the $43 a day per client spent by one member of our coalition – the Doe Fund – which provides ex-offenders with civic-modeled transitional employment and housing.
ComALERT provides rapid assessments, referrals, on-going case management and re-entry services for up to nine months. Participants must be on parole for at least six months, and must be motivated to become self-sufficient, gainfully employed, and drug-free.
For more information, please contact Lance Ogiste at (718) 250-2295, or visit www.brooklynda.org
10. SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE DEMONSTRATION
An enterprising young man, with the use of what I imagine to be a cellphone video camera, attends significant meetings around NYS and posts them to the web at YouTube. The latest is from a demonstration in support of the School to Prison Pipeline: The Student Safety Act. It features students and their adult supporters speaking out about the way schools criminalize our youth for essentially teenage-appropriate behavior. View Here
This was how organizers described the event:
Support The Youth, Ensure their Futures, Urge New York City Council Members to sign on and support the School Safety Act. Let's break the School To Prison Pipeline, Let's bring about more Transparency and Accountability within the actions being taken by the School Security Guards and the NYPD, Let's ensure those with Learning Disabilities are not Targeted, Let's Create a more Healthy place for our Youth to Learn in.
For more information about the School to Prison Pipeline: Student Safety Act, see the link on the right side of this page.
11. TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Sept 6 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Sept 13 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Sept 20 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Sept 27 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
Ride wanted: Carolyn, a 62 year old woman who is unable to drive due to a recent automobile accident, is eager to visit her fiancé in Wende C.F. She lives in Port Jervis, NY, which is near Middletown. If you would be willing to take her, even just once, she would be very appreciative. Please call 845 672 3967
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
12. VOTING IS THE LEAST YOU CAN DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ARE YOU SURE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO? HERE’S AN EASY WAY TO MAKE SURE YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION IS UP TO DATE
VERIFY YOUR REGISTRATION:
Every year thousands are turned away from the polls because they aren't properly registered. You can check your registration on VotePoke, a cool new online system. It only takes 30 seconds-and if you need to change anything, they make it really easy. Check it out at: http://votepoke.org
If you've recently verified your registration status, so you know that you'll be able to vote this November, what about your friends? your family? your co-workers? Click the link below to invite everyone you know to verify their registration status right now using VotePoke. Getting your friends and family up to speed by inviting them to double-check their registration is easy.
Click here.
Thanks! The VotePoke Team
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG . POLITICAL ACTION. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
13. WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND NEW YORK STATE
Buffalo:
Prisoners Are People Too is a justice advocacy program that meets monthly on selected Mondays in Buffalo at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street from 6:30-8:30pm. Each meeting features a documentary film, related to some criminal justice or prison issue, and one or more guest speakers who address that issue.
The news of torture occurring in Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq was a shock to the American public. Now it’s almost forgotten. News of similar violence occurring inside state prisons and jails throughout the USA is rarely considered. At its next meeting on Monday, September 22, 2008, Prisoners Are People Too will screen the documentary, ”Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons.” The film takes a look at prisons in Texas, Florida, and California. So, --what about the abuse of prisoners in New York State? Our guest speaker, Mr. Gary Craig, an investigative reporter from Rochester’s “Democrat and Chronicle” newspaper, will share his thoughts about a system that is steeped in punishment, rather than rehabilitation.
The next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too is scheduled for October 27. Film and guest speaker(s) TBA.
PRP2 programs are sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of Baba Eng. For further information, contact Karima Amin at karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org or 716-834-8438.
NYC:
Family Empowerment Day 4/NYC “Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home"
Saturday October 25 2008 9am - 4pm
Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building
435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam), Manhattan
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
For more information: contact us at 518 253 7533 or email PAN for a flyer.
Your organization’s announcement could be here. Building Bridges wants to help promote the activities of all groups doing something to aid the cause of justice. Share your successes, share your activities, and bring hope to the apathetic and hopeless. Please submit your announcements by the last week of each month (email is preferred), and we will do our best to include them in the next issue.
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
Posted 9/15; from People's Movement
"What do we want?-JUSTICE!"
"When do we want it?-NOW!"
Many of you are fully aware of the activities we have engaging on in order to
bring about much needed change and fair opportunities for our fellow peers.
One of the issue's we've been waging against is the creation of the new bronx
jail being planned for hunts point, thus i forward this new website so that the
resources being provided can be fully utilized and passed on to the families,
friends, and loved one's with someone in jail whom you may know of.Let's
continue to ensure that those already in nyc jails with a mental illness
diagnosis recieves prior to being released appropriate discharge planning.
Let us continue with our push for crisis intervention teams within the
precienct here in nyc so that we may be able to keep our peers from being
placed in jail, possibly being hurt by an nypd officer due to not being
appropriately trained to handle situations involving peers overwhelmed
psychiatrically.
We are having our next meeting on September 17th, 2008 at 1750 Davidson Avenue
-(East 176st Street, in the bronx)- the meeting is being held within the
community room at 6pm.
contact lisa via phone @ 646-260-6575 or carlos @ 718-825-9284
looking forward to seeing you all there.
For those who hadn't noticed, the New York City Board of Correction now has a
website:
www.nyc.gov/html/boc/html/home/home.shtml"
"Only Through Direct Action Will Change Take Place".....
Posted September 15; from Amnesty International re: TROY DAVIS:
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole denied clemency to Troy Anthony Davis on September 12, but can revisit this decision at any time between now and September 23.
In July 2007, they issued a decision to stay the execution of Troy Davis in July 2007, stating that the Board "will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused." In March, the Georgia Supreme Court denied Troy Davis a hearing, so doubts of his guilt will always remain. Therefore we urge them to commute his sentence.
Mr. Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 15 years for the murder of a police officer he maintains that he did not commit. Davis' conviction was not based on any physical evidence, and the murder weapon was never found. Instead, the case was based solely on the testimony of witnesses, many of whom now allege police coercion, and most of whom have since recanted their testimony. Despite mounting evidence that Davis may in fact be innocent of the crime, appeals to courts to hold a hearing on this evidence have been repeatedly denied for procedural reasons.
This case has generated widespread attention, which reflects serious concerns in Georgia and throughout the United States about the potential for executing an innocent man. Nothing can undermine public faith in a criminal justice system faster than an execution when serious doubts about guilt have not been resolved. The power of clemency exists as a safety net to prevent such an irreversible error and preserve public confidence in the state’s capacity for justice. The integrity of justice in Georgia is at stake in this case.
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole can either take into account compelling evidence challenging his guilt, or they will choose to ignore that evidence and allow his sentence to stand. They have to power to stop this indefensible execution and we must implore them to make the right decision.
Can you take 30 seconds and help save the life of a man who is almost certainly innocent? You can learn more and take action here:
takeaction.amnestyusa.org
Posted September 15, from Telephone Justice Campaign,CCR:
The NY State Comptroller is currently investigating Global Tel*Link’s claims that the bidding process for the NY prison telephone contract was unfair. We know that it was fair because it complied with the Family Connections bill, which we all worked together to get passed last year. Please click on the link in the message below to sign a petition to the Comptroller asking that they speed up the process and give us our new contract!
in struggle,
___________________ _____________________
lauren melodia | center for constitutional rights | 666 broadway 7th floor | ny ny 10012 | 212.614.6481 | lmelodia@ccrjustice.org
Dear Supporter,
Put an end to 10 years and $225 million of an illegal NYDOCS tax.
Sign a petition to the New York State Comptroller and help expedite a new prison telephone contract to ease the financial burden on families with loved ones in New York State prisons. It has been more than a year since we passed the Family Connections Act and ended the 57.5 percent kickback to the State on all prison calls.
Tell the State Comptroller, who is currently investigating complaints by the phone company that previously held the contract, that he should approve the new contract now so that families can finally get the fair rate they deserve.
In related news this week, CCR attorney Darius Charney made oral arguments in an appeal before the New York State Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the unlawful tax. We asked the court to reverse the most recent dismissal in Walton v. NYSDOCS and allow families to be com pensated for 10 years of the unjust, illegal tax, which amounted to $225 million out of their pockets. It is also critical that the court rule in the case so that no future administration can bring back the kickback contract.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Annette Dickerson
Director of Education and Outreach
Center for Constitutional Rights
BUILDING BRIDGES, SEPTEMBER EDITION:
Dear Reader,
Are you aware that volunteers produce Building Bridges and present Family Empowerment Day and don’t get paid one penny for their labors? In fact money comes out of our pockets when there's a shortage. We don't do it for the glory, believe me. Sometimes our loved ones complain bitterly that we spend more time doing PAN work than with them. But we do it because working for justice is the best antidote to despair there is! We invite you to join us in this work and the spiritual rewards it brings.
To make Family Empowerment Day 4 a success, we need everyone reading these words to spread the word, encourage everyone in your family and circle of friends to attend, and dig into your pockets to help pay for it. No amount is too small. We've always paid for it with lots and lots of small donations plus a few big ones from people who can afford it. What's important is that in the end we all can feel proud of what we accomplished together.
I've been wondering why it should be so hard to achieve the changes we seek. We aren't asking for anything that would not benefit everyone, so why do we come up against so many obstacles? We're asking for justice, fairness, forgiveness, and second chances. Those are the values we believe in. Who on earth does not want to be treated justly and fairly, forgiven when we do wrong, and given a second chance to do right? Well, if we want it for ourselves then we must provide it for everyone. It could be you next who is unjustly arrested, convicted or held forever in prison. For some readers it already has been.
Many of our opponents scream "public safety!" whenever anyone is released on parole. Understandably they're afraid that someone who’s released will commit another crime. We all want to live in a safe society, not worrying that harm can befall us at any moment. But I believe it’s more likely that we’ll be harmed by injustice, inequity, inequality, prejudice and hate than from crimes against property or life. If you agree, please join me at Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC when we plan to take action in support of OUR values: Public Safety through Justice, Fairness, Equality, Acceptance, and Love!
Our new mailing address is Prison Action Network, PO Box 6355, Albany NY 12206. (Where you can send donations for Family Empowerment Day! Please....)
In this Issue:
1. Abuse of women in prison
2. Clemency study looking for people
3. Family Empowerment Day 4/NYC
4. FBI urges public tours of prisons
5. Legislative updates
6. Lifers and Longtermers Clearinghouse
7. Parole
8. Prison radio
9. Reentry
10. School to prison pipeline
11. Transportation to prisons
12. Voting
13. What's happening around New York State
1. ABUSE OF WOMEN IN PRISON: MORE THAN 50 PER CENT OF ALL WOMEN IN U.S. PRISONS HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ABUSED
Excerpts from an article published Monday, Aug 11, 2008, By Kaleem Omar, The News (Pakistan)
[send for complete article by sending a request to PAN]
More than 50 per cent of all female prisoners in the United States have experienced some form of sexual abuse. Seventy per cent of guards in the 170 state prison facilities for women across the United States are men. In Canadian women’s prisons, 91 per cent of the guards are female.
An Amnesty International report says, “Sexual abuse is virtually a fact of life for incarcerated women in the US.” The report’s findings are reinforced by a study conducted by the US-based Human Rights Watch, which says that “being a woman prisoner in American prisons can be a terrifying experience.”
It can be examined in terms of powerlessness, humiliation, retaliation and fear. If a woman is sexually abused, she cannot escape from her abuser. Grievances or investigatory procedures, where they do exist, are often ineffectual, and correctional employees continue to engage in abuse because they believe they will rarely be held accountable, administratively or criminally. The women are often afraid to report such incidences. Guards frequently threaten to take away visitation rights to keep them quiet. Male correctional officers and staff have also engaged in regular verbal degradation and harassment of female prisoners, thus contributing to a custodial environment in the state prisons for women, which is often highly sexualised and excessively hostile.
In some instances, women have been impregnated as a result of sexual misconduct, and some of these prisoners have faced additional abuse in the form of inappropriate segregation, denial of adequate health care, and/or pressure to seek an abortion, says the Human Rights Watch report. One of the clear contributing factors to sexual misconduct in US prisons for women is that the United States, despite authoritative international rules to the contrary, allows male correctional employees to hold contact positions over prisoners, that is, positions in which they serve in constant physical proximity to the prisoners of the opposite sex.
Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules), which constitute an authoritative guide to international law regarding the treatment of prisoners, male officers are precluded from holding such contact positions. However, since the passage of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, US employers have been prohibited from denying a person a job solely on the basis of gender unless the person’s gender was reasonably necessary to the performance of the specific job.
2. CLEMENCY STUDY LOOKING FOR PEOPLE CONVICTED UNDER THE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS
Clemency study looking for people convicted under the Rockefeller Drug Laws who have submitted clemency appeals or are thinking of doing so. Please contact Prison Action Network for more information or to submit your/another person's name and DIN with a short (100 word) description of why you think your/their situation is particularly deserving.
3. FAMILY EMPOWERMENT DAY 4/NYC: SPANISH-ENGLISH TRANSLATOR NEEDED; STRUCTURE OF EVENT EXPLAINED
Translator: We received an unsolicited Spanish translation of the FED4/NYC flyer in the mail, which was a wonderful gift, but it doesn’t make sense to use it unless we can provide translators for the event itself. If you are, or know anyone who is, fluent enough in both English and Spanish to provide rapid on the spot translation, we would like to to discuss how to provide this service for the many Spanish-only speakers in our community. Please contact PAN at 518 253 7533 or email us.
Structure of FED4/NYC: We are very ambitious about what we want to accomplish this year. We are truly tired of doing nothing but talk. The Family Empowerment Project Executive Committee did its best to create an agenda that will take people step by step through a process that starts with analyzing important issues and ends with a goal and a game plan. In order to do that, we are going to need to stay VERY focused, because the process needs to happen within a limited number of hours. It is very important that everyone is there for the whole day (9am-4pm). Each part of the process is necessary for the success of the last session, where we "get down to business!"
It’s an interactive event; that's why we’re investing big bucks to rent the Columbia Law School building with microphones at every seat. We’re urging participants to come prepared with well thought out questions and suggestions, all focused on getting the answers you need to decide on a goal at the end of the day.
The day will include the screening of “The Visitors,” a documentary about families who take the buses to upstate New York prisons. It will be followed by a panel discussion which will point out the film’s relevance to parole issues. The panel will be composed of Melis Birder, the filmmaker; Denise Robinson, one of the main characters in the film; Dr. Divine Pryor, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions; Ernest Henry, who received visitors while incarcerated; his wife Kathy Ernest,who visited him; and the moderator and analyst, Rev. Vivian Nixon, who, as a formerly incarcerated person herself, will add an imprisoned woman's perspective to the discussion.
Lunch will provide time for talking to friends new and old, and for visiting the Action Tables where representatives of organizations will be able to answer questions and where there will be actions that can be taken then and there, such as petitions and letters to sign, pledges to be involved in some future event or to vote, taking part in a video interview on the impact of incarceration, and more. There will be a table where family members can sit with their parole support petitions. (Please call or email PAN to reserve space.)
Parole Chairman George Alexander will give a keynote speech on "The State of Parole Today". Rev. Dr. Mark Chapman, who has been part of every FED since its inception, will moderate the Q&A session that follows. We hope participants will confine themselves to one question per person, and keep it general and focused on clarifying what Alexander, as the head of parole, can do or can't do, to restore justice and fairness to the parole process. We want to find out how/if we can support him in bringing deserving parole candidates home, and how/if he can support whatever action we decide to take to make that possible.
There will be a short time between the keynote speech and the action planning session for participants to debrief after hearing Mr. Alexander. Following the debriefing, we'll move on to suggestions for goals with assistance from our team of advisors: Eddie Ellis, host of WBAI’s “On the Count!: The Prison & Criminal Justice Report”; Robert Isseks and Peter Sell, lead attorneys in Graziano vs. Pataki; Amy James-Oliveras, Co-host and Co-producer of the Fancy Broccoli Show; Glenn Martin, Vice President of Development and Public Affairs of the Fortune Society; Sheila Rule, Publisher, Resilience Multimedia; and others who have not yet formally confirmed. The advisors will comment on the goals suggested by families and other representatives of people in prison, and perhaps suggest some that weren't mentioned. Then we'll vote, using Approval Voting, where people vote for all of the goals they would support, and the goal with the most votes wins. Our advisors will then help us plan how to achieve the goal. We'll announce the time and place of the next meeting before leaving.
At the very end, participants will be given evaluation forms and a raffle will be held. Raffle tickets will be the completed evaluation sheets (which will include a space where participants can sign up to work to achieve our goal). Prize to be announced.
4. FBI URGES PUBLIC TOURS OF PRISONS
I draw your attention to an article in the June 2008 edition of the FBI's Law Enforcement Bulletin. The FBI agent-author's article openly encourages public officials to permit public tours of their jails for various stated reasons. This is huge! That magazine is widely read across the law enforcement and legal world and carries great influence. I say we now walk thru the door the FBI has opened. For too long the jails have been a closed society. You can access the article at: www.fbi.gov and choose publications, then Law Enforcement Bulletin, then June 2008
- joe gonzalez
5. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ON BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR PATERSON; SOME CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT THE PAROLE DISCRETION LAW AND A QUESTION ABOUT THE PRS LAW [copies available by emailing the number of the bill to PAN.]
A9727/S6731 - RESTORING DISCRETION TO THE PAROLE BOARD, SIGNED BY THE GOVERNMENT ON JULY 21ST
Introduced by M.of A. AUBRY, and Sen. VOLKER: An act to amend the executive law, in relation to restoring discretion to the board of parole to discharge any person for whom the board of parole is satisfied that a discharge from parole supervision would be in the best interests of society
Some clarifications: From 1930 to 1998 the Board of Parole had discretion to grant discharge from parole supervision after three consecutive years of unrevoked parole to any person for whom the Board of Parole determined that such discharge would be in the best interest of society. In 1998, however, discretion to grant a discharge from parole was removed for one class of persons - those who had been sentenced to an indeterminate sentence with a maximum sentence of life. This bill restores that option for those people.
Note #1: This law does not make release from parole automatic or even mandatory. Parole officers will have the discretion to release people from parole whenever (after at least 3 years) and if ever they think it's good for the community and good for the parolee. Some people might NEVER be discharged. In the best of worlds the decision would depend on the person's behaviors.
Note #2: We're dealing with a big bureaucracy here! It will take awhile to put the procedures in place. Estimates have been made for early September before all parole officers will all have been officially notified of their new discretionary powers, and another 30 days before all the policies may be in place and ready for implementation.
A10288A/S7638A - THE EMPLOYER EDUCATION ACT, which was described in the August Building Bridges, was signed into law by the Governor on Aug. 8.
Thanks to everyone who called the Governor's office to voice your support. And congratulations to the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy which worked hard to get the bill passed!
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Does any reader know of a lawyer working on a class action suit for those who were illegally incarcerated without post release supervision? A man who recently was released from a year's time for being late for curfew wants to know, because it turns out he never had PRS on his commitment, and a judge ordered him released. Email PAN.
6. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE - SPECIAL NEEDS OF LIFERS-WITHOUT-PAROLE ARE ACKNOWLEDGED AND A NEW COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN FORMED TO ADDRESS THEM.
This is an alert to all approved organizations operated by incarcerated individuals, and concerns those who are serving life-without-parole sentences. There are more than 200 persons serving life-without-parole sentences in the N.Y.State prison system and they are housed primarily in maximum security facilities where their numbers are relatively small.
They represent the truly left behind for they have received the ultimate penal sentence of having to spend the remainder of their life in prison. They are condemned and abandoned in that they receive no special provision from the department of correctional services; no adjustment or coping programs or counseling services are provided or have been developed to meet their unique needs.
For the convicted person sentenced to spend the remainder of their life in prison, the mechanics of "doing time" becomes their total experience rather than simply an interruption in their life. Lifers-without-parole are not tourists in prison; they are not "just passing through."
The plight of those serving such sentences has come to the attention of both the commissioner of corrections as well as community advocates of the incarcerated, and efforts are being marshaled to address their special needs. As leader in such efforts and someone who has served time and worked with lifers, those serving extended sentences, and those serving life-without-parole, I want to bring to the attention of the leadership of lifer and other approved prison organizations the need to address the special concerns of lifers-without-parole.
Because their numbers are relatively small it is unlikely that facility administrations will approve organizational status for lifers-without-parole. However, approved lifer and long-termer organizations can establish committees to address special concerns and they might consider setting up a committee that would address lifer-without-parole concerns and be headed and composed entirely of such persons.
It is important that Lifers-without-parole have some organizational or group structure to be identified with, because a new community organization named "The Doing Justice Coalition" has been formed to address the needs of lifers and long-termers and specifically lifers-without-parole. The Doing Justice Coalition is a collaborative partnership between faith communities and criminal and social justice practitioners to improve criminal justice outcomes by integrating the basic concepts of faith, hope and enduring beliefs with evidence-based practices and non-traditional approaches to criminal justice.
The Doing Justice Coalition is in the process of developing orientation and direction programs for persons serving extended prison terms. Members plan to visit as soon as institutional authorization is given, to form linkages with lifer and long-termer organizations. More on this subject in the next issue of Building Bridges.
--Larry White
Co-chair, Prison Action Network Clearinghouse Project
7. PAROLE: JENNIFER ARENA LEFT AFTER HER TERM EXPIRED, JOSEPH CRANGLE IS NEW COMMISSIONER, AND THERE'S AN EMPTY SEAT; YEAR-TO-DATE A1VO PAROLE RELEASES; FACILITY STATISTICS FROM ARTHUR KILL, FISHKILL, FRANKLIN, GROVELAND, MID-ORANGE, OTISVILLE, WOODBOURNE AND WYOMING PRISONS; RARE RESCISSION HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 9/5
PAROLE BOARD APPOINTMENTS:
Jennifer Arena is gone from the Parole Board, much to the relief of everyone who knew that she lacked the minimum qualifications specified for the job. Joseph Crangle is newly appointed. Since 2000 he has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York. There is now one empty seat remaining on the Board.
PAROLE BOARD RELEASES – A1 VIOLENT FELONS [A1VO]
Year to Date A1VO Parole Release Summary - unofficial research from parole database
Year to date through July 31 there were 106 initial interviews with 7 released: 7%
Year to date through July 31 there were 721 reappearances with 94 released: 13%
In total, 827 appearances with 101 releases: 12% release rate through July 31.
July A1VO Parole Release Summary – unofficial research from parole database
120 interviews (no women) of which 14 were initial appearances and 106 were reappearances
15 people were granted parole*
2 were released on their initial interview
13 were released on a reappearance
*List of the 15 July A1VO parole releases by prison:
Initial:
Otisville : 25-Life for Murder 2nd degree on his 1st board.
Washington : 20-Life for M2 on 1st
Reappearances:
Cape Vincent : 25-Life for Murder on 6th board
Clinton : 15-Life for Murder 2nd degree on 4th
Fishkill : 15-Life for M2 on 2nd
Gouverneur : 15-Life for M2 on 2nd
Gowanda : 25-Life for M on 8th
Gowanda : 25-Life for M2 on 5th
Great Meadow : 20-Life for M2 on 7th or 8th
Hudson : 15-Life for M2 on 7th
Mt McGregor : 17-Life for M2 on 3rd
Mid-Orange : 15-Life for M2 on 7th or 8th
Oneida : 22.5-Life for M2 on 6th
Otisville : 20-Life for M2 on 4th or 5th
Otisville : 17-Life for M2 on 6th
May, June, July, August 2008 Releases based on Reports from the Inside:
ARTHUR KILL
July-August - Ferguson, Arena, Thompson
60 saw the board, 5 were granted parole
25 were initial interviews; 3 were granted parole
34 were reappearances; 1 was granted parole
1 parole violator was released
FISHKILL
August - Casey, Grant, Hagler (with Mary Ross observing)
7 A1VOs saw the board, 2 made it, one 15-Life on 1st board after a July split decision, the other a 20-L on 4th board after July split decision.
FRANKLIN
July
12 merit hearings; 5 were granted
17 initial interviews; 8 were granted
14 reappearances; 4 granted
2 parole violations; both denied
2 PIE (?); both denied
2 Conditional releases; both denied.
1 Supplement Merit (?); denied
August:
5 merit hearings; 2 granted
21 initial interviews; 2 granted
2 presumptive releases; 1 granted
12 reappearances; 1 granted
6 parole violators; 6 granted
2 PIE; both denied
12 conditional releases; 12 granted
1 supplement merit; denied
MID-ORANGE
August - Henandez, Lemmons
24 were interviewed; 12 made it! (7 A1VO, 1 Persistant Lifer, 4 non-Lifers)
OTISVILLE
May - Ludlow, Thompson, Smith
42 were interviewed; 9 made it.
Of the 33 denied, 29 were reappearances, 4 were initials.
June- Ludlow, Casey, Ortloff
37 were interviewed; 5 (3 Lifers) made it.
July - Ferguson, Lemmons, Hagler
18 were interviewed; 5 (3 were Lifers) made it.
WOODBOURNE
July - Lemons, Ferguson, Thompson
29 saw the board; 3 (1 A1VO) were granted parole
Of those denied, 7 were A1VO
WYOMING
August - Kevin Ludlow, Chris Ortloff, William Casey
24 saw the board; 2 were granted parole
13 were initial interviews; none were granted parole
5 were reappearances; 1 was granted
6 were merit boards; 1 was granted
INDIVIDUALS RELEASED: A PAN member and close friend was granted parole in August, and we are sooo excited! But he doesn’t want us to identify him for reasons that are personal. We had to say something..., so: “We can’t wait til you are home, working with us on the outside!”
RARE RESCISSION HEARING ON FRI. SEPT. 5.
In 1973 Shu'aib Abdur Raheem was convicted of murdering a police officer in a robbery. Since his sentencing he has been a model prisoner, staying out of trouble and earning college degrees as well as helping other incarcerated men. He expresses remorse, and in November 2007 he was granted parole. The Patrolman's Benevolent Assoc. was outraged, marshaled their forces and found a loophole that sabotaged Raheem's release. On February 8, 2008, the parole board caved in and rescinded Raheem's release.
Shu'aib Abdur Raheem will face a rare "rescission hearing" on September 5 in Albany County Supreme Court, on Eagle Street, across from City Hall. It’s scheduled for 10:30 am. Index # 3883-08. Shu'aib A. Raheem v. Board of Parole.. He requests as many of you as are willing, to be there to support him.
8. PRISON RADIO -
Paulie Santos will be on the Fancy Broccoli Show on September 13. He’ll be talking about his journey from childhood to his present living situation at the Fortune Society Academy. No other interviews are scheduled for September.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews.
Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
9. REENTRY: “WOMEN, REENTRY AND EVERYDAY LIFE: TIME TO WORK?”; HELP NEEDED TO FIND PROGRAMS MANDATED BY PAROLE; CHARLES J. HYNES, KINGS COUNTY DA, DESCRIBES HIS REENTRY PROGRAM CALLED COM ALERT
The Prisoner Reentry Institute invites you to attend our Fall Occasional Series on Reentry Research kick-off event on Friday, September 12, 2008 from 8:30am to 10:00am. Venezia Michalsen, a professor at Montclair State University and formerly the Research Director at Women’s Prison Association (WPA), will present the results of a new WPA report “Women, Reentry and Everyday Life: Time to Work?” Respondents will include Alison Link, a Consultant at the Leisure Link, and Nancy O’Brien, Transitional Advocate at the Center for Community Alternatives.
Location: John Jay College of Criminal Justice (899 10th Ave, between 58th - 59th Streets) Room 630. Please RSVP to Amelia Thompson (212-484-1399;amthompson@jjay.cuny.edu).
Prison Action Network has been told by people on parole that they're mandated by their parole officers to take certain programs as a condition of their parole, but you're on your own to find one. Sounds like ComALERT, featured below, might have some answers, if you qualify. But we’d like to make it easier, so if you attend a group other than ComALERT - an anger management group or any other type of program, either in fulfillment of parole's demands, or just because you want it, please send us the days, times, place, and contact numbers. Please rate it on a scale of 1-10, 10 being very useful and 1 being a waste of time. We'll pass the information on to our readers.
CHARLES J. HYNES, Kings County District Attorney, has developed a reentry program called ComALERT. He wrote this about it:
Finding a job in today’s economy is difficult enough for a college graduate. Imagine how difficult it is for an offender who has just been released from prison and is trying to re-establish himself in the community. Eventually, many of the 65,000 offenders currently incarcerated in the New York State prison system will return to our communities under some form of probation or parole supervision. Sadly, many will be back in prison within three years due to a new arrest or parole violation. This cycle of failure is devastating to the offenders, their families and their neighborhoods.
As District Attorney, I recognized the need for law enforcement and community service providers to work together to find a solution to the problem of recidivism. Toward that end, I developed a program called ComALERT – Community and Law Enforcement Resources Together. ComALERT represents a coalition of service providers who help released offenders by counseling them on a host of issues ranging from housing, education, and employment to physical and mental health, and substance abuse. ComALERT provides the help these ex-offenders need in order to resist the temptation to return to a life of crime.
ComALERT reduces crime and also makes good economic sense. Each time a person is re-arrested and sent to jail, it costs taxpayers $175 a day to house him. Contrast that with the $43 a day per client spent by one member of our coalition – the Doe Fund – which provides ex-offenders with civic-modeled transitional employment and housing.
ComALERT provides rapid assessments, referrals, on-going case management and re-entry services for up to nine months. Participants must be on parole for at least six months, and must be motivated to become self-sufficient, gainfully employed, and drug-free.
For more information, please contact Lance Ogiste at (718) 250-2295, or visit www.brooklynda.org
10. SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE DEMONSTRATION
An enterprising young man, with the use of what I imagine to be a cellphone video camera, attends significant meetings around NYS and posts them to the web at YouTube. The latest is from a demonstration in support of the School to Prison Pipeline: The Student Safety Act. It features students and their adult supporters speaking out about the way schools criminalize our youth for essentially teenage-appropriate behavior. View Here
This was how organizers described the event:
Support The Youth, Ensure their Futures, Urge New York City Council Members to sign on and support the School Safety Act. Let's break the School To Prison Pipeline, Let's bring about more Transparency and Accountability within the actions being taken by the School Security Guards and the NYPD, Let's ensure those with Learning Disabilities are not Targeted, Let's Create a more Healthy place for our Youth to Learn in.
For more information about the School to Prison Pipeline: Student Safety Act, see the link on the right side of this page.
11. TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Sept 6 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Sept 13 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Sept 20 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Sept 27 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
Ride wanted: Carolyn, a 62 year old woman who is unable to drive due to a recent automobile accident, is eager to visit her fiancé in Wende C.F. She lives in Port Jervis, NY, which is near Middletown. If you would be willing to take her, even just once, she would be very appreciative. Please call 845 672 3967
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
12. VOTING IS THE LEAST YOU CAN DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ARE YOU SURE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO? HERE’S AN EASY WAY TO MAKE SURE YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION IS UP TO DATE
VERIFY YOUR REGISTRATION:
Every year thousands are turned away from the polls because they aren't properly registered. You can check your registration on VotePoke, a cool new online system. It only takes 30 seconds-and if you need to change anything, they make it really easy. Check it out at: http://votepoke.org
If you've recently verified your registration status, so you know that you'll be able to vote this November, what about your friends? your family? your co-workers? Click the link below to invite everyone you know to verify their registration status right now using VotePoke. Getting your friends and family up to speed by inviting them to double-check their registration is easy.
Click here.
Thanks! The VotePoke Team
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG . POLITICAL ACTION. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
13. WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND NEW YORK STATE
Buffalo:
Prisoners Are People Too is a justice advocacy program that meets monthly on selected Mondays in Buffalo at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street from 6:30-8:30pm. Each meeting features a documentary film, related to some criminal justice or prison issue, and one or more guest speakers who address that issue.
The news of torture occurring in Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq was a shock to the American public. Now it’s almost forgotten. News of similar violence occurring inside state prisons and jails throughout the USA is rarely considered. At its next meeting on Monday, September 22, 2008, Prisoners Are People Too will screen the documentary, ”Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons.” The film takes a look at prisons in Texas, Florida, and California. So, --what about the abuse of prisoners in New York State? Our guest speaker, Mr. Gary Craig, an investigative reporter from Rochester’s “Democrat and Chronicle” newspaper, will share his thoughts about a system that is steeped in punishment, rather than rehabilitation.
The next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too is scheduled for October 27. Film and guest speaker(s) TBA.
PRP2 programs are sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of Baba Eng. For further information, contact Karima Amin at karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org or 716-834-8438.
NYC:
Family Empowerment Day 4/NYC “Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home"
Saturday October 25 2008 9am - 4pm
Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building
435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam), Manhattan
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
For more information: contact us at 518 253 7533 or email PAN for a flyer.
Your organization’s announcement could be here. Building Bridges wants to help promote the activities of all groups doing something to aid the cause of justice. Share your successes, share your activities, and bring hope to the apathetic and hopeless. Please submit your announcements by the last week of each month (email is preferred), and we will do our best to include them in the next issue.
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
AUGUST 2008 EDITION
Please scroll down to get to the Building Bridges monthly newsletter.
Posted August 28:
Tune in to Black Entertainment Television (BET) this Friday, August 29, 2008 at 11:30pm to watch the Fortune Society's Vice President of Development and Public Affairs, Glenn E. Martin, featured in an important and timely documentary "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote." In the midst of one of most historic presidential campaigns, the program takes an in-depth look at the voter disfranchisement of men and women with criminal records across the country. The Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy (DRCPP) and the Brennan Center for Justice were approached by BET to help shed light on the myriad laws and practices that bar people with criminal records from the polls and lead to de facto disfranchisement of thousands of eligible men and women in our country. The program is being aired as part of BET's companion coverage for the Democratic National Convention.
About "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote"
In what is undoubtedly another historic election year, as the nation continues its ongoing discussion about the power of the Black vote, BET News correspondent Samson Styles investigates how these laws continue to affect African American votes at the polls. As one of the 5.3 million people in America who has lost the right to vote due to a criminal conviction, Styles sets out on a journey to regain his own voting rights, explore the state-to-state differences of disfranchisement laws, and investigate the national effects of such legislature.
Posted August 25:
If you are at all concerned about the fact that our schools spend more on "security" than on education, and that our school children are treated much the same as people in jail, then you will probably find the video below to be of interest.
Support The Youth, Ensure their Futures, Urge New York City Council Members to sign on and support the School Safety Act. Let's break the School To Prison Pipeline, Let's bring about more Transparency and Accountability within the actions being taken by the School Security Guards and the NYPD, Let's ensure those with Learning Disabilities are not Targeted, Let's Create a more Healthy place for our Youth to Learn in.
For more information on the School to Prison Pipeline: The Student Safety Act, please click on link on the right of this page.
Posted August 6:
Jennifer Arena is gone from the Parole Board, much to the relief of everyone who knew that she lacked the minimum qualifications specified for the job. She has been replaced by Joseph Crangle, who since 2000 has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York. There is now one vacant seat on the Board.
Dear Reader,
It’s been decided. Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC will be held on Saturday October 25, 2008 from 9-4 at the Columbia Law School. The theme is “Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home”. George Alexander, Chairman of Parole, will be the keynote speaker. He will report on “The State of Parole Today”. This is an opportunity for the families of incarcerated people in NYS to meet the head of parole, hear his point of view, and ask questions. (Be sure to listen to his interview on the Fancy Broccoli radio show [#10] on August 17, when he’ll also be taking questions. Any questions left unanswered can be asked in person on Oct 25!) Before we leave FED4-NYC we will have crafted a plan, with help from a team of advisors representing parole, legislative action, and media, for a strategy to obtain fair and just parole decisions. It’s imperative that everyone with a loved one in prison, especially who have indeterminate sentences, represents them at this year’s event. It will be the kickoff event for a major campaign, which cannot be accomplished by only a few people.
We believe that the people who are most invested in the outcome are the logical people to pay for the gathering. So that’s you, and we need your donations. There is no admission charge because incarceration puts a heavy financial burden on families, but IF you can send anything, please do. Is there anyone reading this who can’t spare a dollar or two? Please send it to us. Small donations add up. But larger donations are also necessary. Please be generous. Our victory will require some sacrifice. Checks should be made out to Prison Action Network and sent to our new address, see below. Thank you to those who have already donated.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS FOR PRISON ACTION NETWORK:
Our new address is Prison Action Network, PO Box 6355, Albany NY 12206
In this Issue:
#1 Judge Brieant has died
#2 Crime rates decline in NYS and NYC
#3. DNA test finally possible for Everton Wagstaffe
#4 F.R.E.E. is looking for organizations to speak to school children
#5. Looking for Ms. Keough
#6 Legislative Updates
#7 Lifers and Longtermers Clearinghouse
#8 New York Theological Seminary graduation
#9 Parole updates
#10 Prison Radio
#11 Recommended reading
#12 Telephone Justice Campaign reports on contract
#13 Transportation to prisons
#14 What’s happening in NYS
#15 FED4-NYC information.
Send an email for a copy of the FED4-NYC FLYER to duplicate and distribute far and wide
1. JUDGE CHARLES BRIEANT, IN WHOSE COURT GRAZIANO VS. PATAKI WAS BEING HEARD, DIED ON JULY 20 2008 AT THE AGE OF 85.
Judge Brieant was a great man and a great judge. We are very saddened by his death. According to news reports he had been ill for some time and had not been in court for the last couple of months, which probably explains all the changes in the schedule of hearings during the last year. The cause of his death was not disclosed.
New readers may not know that Judge Brieant was hearing the Graziano vs Pataki lawsuit charging Pataki, and subsequent administrations who did not change the alleged policies, with imposing an unwritten and unlegislated policy of denying parole to A1 Violent Felons based solely upon the nature of their crime.
The case will be assigned to a new judge. In the meantime, the legal team is proceeding with the final stages of discovery.
2. CRIME STATISTICS SHOW NY STATE’S CRIME RATE DECLINED STEADILY FROM 1998 TO 2007. THE LARGEST DECLINE WAS IN THE RATE OF VIOLENT CRIMES. NYC HAD A MUCH LARGER DECLINE THAN COUNTIES OUTSIDE OF THE CITY.
Over the past 10 years, the crime rate in New York State has declined steadily. The largest reductions in crime rate were reported for motor vehicle theft, burglary, and robbery. Overall, the rate of index crimes per 100,000 resident population has declined 33% since 1998; the rate of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) fell 35% and property crimes (burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft) were down 33%.
While New York State’s crime rate has decreased greatly over the past 10 years, New York has also reported a significant reduction in the actual number of crimes reported. Since 1998, the number of major crimes reported has fallen every year to the lowest levels recorded since statewide reporting began nearly 40 years ago. In 2007, there were 190,052 fewer crimes reported than in 1998, while the population of the State has increased by over one million since 1998.
Not all areas of the State have benefited equally from the historic reduction in crime. The decline in Index crime in New York City was much larger than that experienced in counties outside of New York City.
Given the greater decline in crime in New York City, the proportion of statewide crime that each region accounted for has shifted dramatically. The counties outside New York City now account for 56% of the reported crime statewide, as compared to 37% in 1990.
While a higher proportion of the State’s violent crimes occurred in New York City, that region reported a 41% drop in violent crimes since 1998, while the Non-New York City counties reported a decline of 3%. While all violent crime categories declined in New York City between 1998 and 2007, the Non-New York City region reported increases in both murders and rapes over the last 10 years.
Recent Statewide Crime Trends: 2006 vs. 2007
The most recent 2007 crime data show that crime volume in New York State declined for the 17th consecutive year. In 2007, New York State reported an overall drop of 4% in the seven major Index crimes as compared to 2006. Violent crimes dropped by 5% and the largest decline was reported in murders Property crimes were down 4% driven by a 13% drop in motor vehicle thefts.
The Non-New York City region reported larger declines in index, violent and property crimes between 2006 and 2007 than the New York City region. This marks the first time since 1993 that the annual crime decline outside of New York City exceeded the decrease reported within New York City.
3. DNA TEST FINALLY POSSIBLE FOR EVERTON WAGSTAFFE WHO HAS REFUSED TO SEE THE PAROLE BOARD BECAUSE HE CLAIMS HE IS INNOCENT AND THEREFORE CAN’T EXPRESS REMORSE FOR A CRIME HE DIDN’T COMMIT.
Everton Wagstaffe says he is completely innocent of the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to 12 - 25, of which he has served 16.5. He refuses to see the parole board because he won't express remorse for the crime he says he didn't commit. When the case was tried DNA testing was new and so not used on evidence that fortunately still exits. He fought to find a way to have tests done, and finally in June the Legal Aid Society agreed to pay for them. He credits his success to the kindness of strangers, who listened to him and were moved to help.
4. FAMILIES RALLY FOR EMANCIPATION & EMPOWERMENT (F.R.E.E.) OFFERS OPPORTUNITY FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO GET INVOLVED IN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AT OUR WORLD NEIGHBORHOOD CHARTER SCHOOL IN ASTORIA.
The school's current character education program is called the "Pillars of a Positive Community". Each month a pillar is emphasized through various activities, writings and lessons in the classroom. This year we wanted to take it a step further by inviting groups who reflect one of the pillars into our schools to speak with our students and provide opportunities for our students to further understand the pillars through hands-on learning.
The pillars are: Sept: Respect; Oct: Courage; Nov: Kindness; Dec: True Friendship; Jan: Truth; Feb: Responsibility; March: Self Discipline; April: Fairness; May: Citizenship; June: Perseverance
Does your organization reflect one of these pillars and which one? Would you be willing to come to our school and speak to students about your work? Is it possible that our students would be able to get involved with your organization throughout the year to further understand the meaning of each pillar?
Our World Neighborhood Charter School (www.owncs.org) is located in Astoria/Long Island City, 31-20 37th St. Astoria, NY, first exit off Triboro, near the V train.
Please reply to: cbarnes@owncs.org, or Denise B., Families Rally for Emancipation & Empowerment (F.R.E.E); 81 Willoughby St. #701; Brooklyn, NY 11201; (718)852-0012)
5. MS. KEOUGH, WHO FORMERLY TAUGHT BASIC ADULT ED AT EASTERN C.F.
Building Bridges would like to pass on a message from a good friend who was one of Ms. Keough’s former students. Please email Building Bridges if you have any information. Thank you.
6. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ON BILLS PERTAINING TO PRS, HIV/AIDS INFORMATION, JOB DISCRIMINATION, UNANIMOUS PAROLE BOARD DECISIONS, REENTRY TAX CREDIT, 2 MERIT TIME BILLS, PRIVACY OF INFORMATION, WORKING WHERE ALCOHOL IS SOLD, and FREE RAP SHEET.
[Status of several other bills was mentioned in July Building Bridges] (For copies of any of these bills, please email us)
Note that not many of these were signed into law by the governor. Some passed in both houses but are not yet signed; some passed in only one house and need to be reintroduced at the next legislative session which begins January 2009; others stayed in committee and also need to be reintroduced.
PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW BY THE GOVERNOR:
S8714/ A11764 - Nozzolio, Aubry: PRS BILL. Passed and Signed into law. This bill, pertaining to Post Release Supervision, was described in the July Building Bridges.
Building Bridges congratulates all the people who worked in support of this and other important bills! (Even though Post Release Sentencing is a controversial issue, we feel the revised bill is fair and offers timely judicial remedies to those who were never required to be under PRS.) We know it took education, persuasion, compromise and much difficult work to bring these bills from conception into law. We appreciate our representatives who drafted these bills, applaud the Senate members who voted for them, and commend Governor Paterson for his wisdom in signing them. And we don’t take our support in the Assembly for granted either. But it takes everyday people like you and me who are willing to work tirelessly to convince our representatives in government that there is enough support for bills like these to make it safe for them to sponsor them or vote for them. Let us learn from this that we too can change things! Join us at Family Empowerment Day 4 with your ideas, and then roll up your sleeves for a lot of work in the year ahead.
PASSED IN BOTH HOUSES, NOT YET SIGNED BY THE EXECUTIVE:
S8508/ A.8849 - Montgomery, Peoples: DISTRIBUTION OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION INFORMATION to Persons In Prison & Upon Release. Requires New York correctional facilities to provide people in prison with information about the prevention of HIV, and how to obtain HIV-testing and counseling services upon release.
A10288A / S7638A - Aubry, Volker: THE EMPLOYER EDUCATION ACT requires employers to provide a copy of Article 23-A of the Correction law—which makes it illegal to automatically deny employment to qualified job seekers with criminal records and provides guidance on how criminal history information can be appropriately and legally considered amidst the hiring process—to job applicants if they run background checks during the interview process and to post Article 23-A in the workplace, which also requires that any Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) providing information about a job-seeker’s criminal history must also notify employers of their obligations under New York State Law to give the application fair consideration.
Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy asks that you please take a moment out of your busy schedule to call the Governor’s office at 518-474-8390 to voice your support for the Employer Education Act (S7638A/A10288A). And if you have another minute, email them to let them know you called:
PASSED IN ONLY ONE HOUSE, NEED TO BE REINTRODUCED IN JANUARY 2009 WHEN THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS:
S06908 - Nozzolio: Requires, among other things, a UNANIMOUS PAROLE DECISION to release an incarcerated individual convicted of any class A. felony. The bill passed the Senate in April, was delivered to the Assembly where it languished.
A05438A/ S2956B - Jeffries, Montgomery: REENTRY TAX CREDIT establishes a re-entry employment incentive tax credit, providing a $10,000 tax credit to employers who hire individuals released from New York correctional facilities in full-time jobs at 140% of the state minimum wage. It passed in the assembly; was delivered to the Senate in June where it remained in committee.
NEVER MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE. STILL NEED TO BE INTRODUCED FOR A VOTE:
S7889 /A10716 - Montgomery, Aubry: MERIT TIME BILL, affords inmates with the ability to earn a reduction of their sentence after completing significant programming and maintaining a positive disciplinary record. Current law only allows inmates with certain nonviolent convictions to earn merit time. However, the availability of merit time allowance motivates inmates to complete necessary programming and maintain a good disciplinary record. The program has been shown to reduce prison violence and studies show that inmates granted merit time and released early have lower recidivism rates. Therefore, this bill expands the availability of the merit time program to all inmates. 4/28/08 referred to crime victims, crime and correction.
S3578 - Montgomery: MERIT TIME BILL INTRODUCED IN 2007, didn’t move out of committee. Reintroduced in Jan.’08. Provides for vesting of merit time allowance and release for prisoners with good behavior with certain limitations; provides commissioner of correctional services shall promulgate rules and regulations for merit time allowance to determine which inmates are good candidates for release. Didn’t move out of committee again this session.
S7660/ A10866 - Volker, Aubry: AMENDS THE NYS HUMAN RIGHTS LAW so that individuals are not required to divulge information pertaining to Youthful Offender adjudications and sealed violation convictions. In other words, to clarify that individuals are not required to divulge sealed information about arrests or prosecutions terminated in favor of the accused, youthful offender adjudications, and sealed non-criminal violations. It never moved out of committee.
S8022B - Winner: allows qualified individuals with criminal records to be employed in certain establishments that hold liquor licenses. Never moved out of committee.
S4970A/ A6387A - Volker, Aubry: RAP SHEET BILL requiring the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Department of Correctional Services to provide a rap sheet, free of charge, to every individual being released from a New York State correctional facility, on the day of release. Each rap sheet should be accompanied by instructions for how to read, understand, and review the rap sheet for errors. Never moved out of committee.
7. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE: CALL TO ACTION! WE NEED THE FAMILIES, LOVED-ONES AND SUPPORTERS OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS TO BE INFORMED ABOUT A SPECIAL MEETING THAT HAS BEEN ARRANGED BETWEEN THEM AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF PAROLE.
This special meeting is designed to accomplish three immediate goals: 1) to bring together at one place and time those who are willing to represent and speak for those who are incarcerated in the New York State prison system, 2) to use this meeting as a first step in organizing a grassroots movement to empower these representatives and give voice to their call for a more just and equitable parole system, and 3) to establish a continuing dialogue between those communities that contribute a disproportionate percentage of the state prison population and who have a personal stake in the public safety of the environments where they live and raise families, and the corrections and parole agencies whose policies and practices have a more direct impact on these communities than other jurisdictions.
The articulation of these three goals and the on-going efforts to reach a consensus between the primary community stakeholders involved (family and community representatives, incarcerated members of the community, and the organized criminal justice advocates) about how to achieve them, constitute the initial stages of a unified strategy to bring about just and equitable parole laws and procedures.
Regarding the three primary community stakeholders, the incarcerated community members have a crucial role to play despite their imprisonment. It is the task of the incarcerated community members to notify their families and supporters about the October 25th Family Empowerment Day 4-NYC meeting with the Chairman of Parole, and to convey to them how vital it is that they attend and register.
The initial mobilization of the families and supporters of the incarcerated begins with their attendance and registration on October 25th and it is the responsibility of the incarcerated to contact them and insist that they participate in Family Empowerment Day 4-NYC.
Most often the dialogue between the incarcerated and their families and supporters regarding parole is based on complaints and commiseration, with little that family and supporters can do but echo the grievances of the incarcerated. Well now the situation calls for a dialogue based upon a discussion of objective steps to be taken by each, and the up-front role the families and supporters are required to play in a face to face meeting.
FED4 announcements providing information about the events scheduled to take place are being made available to lifer and long-termer organizations and key individuals. Word about FED4-NYC should be spread on the buses and visiting rooms and emphasis given to the importance of having an enormous turnout of families and supporters. We have enough time to make this happen!
Larry White, Co-Chair
PAN Clearinghouse Project
8. NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY GRADUATES TWELVE AT SING SING PRISON
Congratulations to the New York Theological Seminary's Class of 2008. The 12 graduates from the 26th graduating class at Sing Sing were: Daniel Callahan, Jae Choi, Gregorio (Koko) Cruz, Theodore (Theo) Harris, Gaston (the Judge) Jones, Joseph Mazzaferro, Robert Rose, John Royster, Warren Streeter, Nicholas Tellone, John (Divine G.) Whitfield, Juan Williams. We wish the graduates the best.
9. PAROLE BOARD ADDS MARY ROSS AND MICHAEL HAGLER; YEAR-TO-DATE A1VO PAROLE RELEASES; FACILITY STATISTICS FROM ARTHUR KILL, GROVELAND, MID-ORANGE AND WYOMING PRISONS
Parole Board Appointments:
In our July issue we reported that Joseph B. Crangle and Mary Ross had been nominated and were awaiting Senate confirmation. Apparently Crangle was not confirmed but Ms. Ross was, on June 19, to a 5 year term. There's no mention of Mr. Crangle on the Parole website. It does show that there are now 18 commissioners, and the last one to be confirmed before Mary Ross was Michael A. Hagler who was nominated by Spitzer and confirmed on 10/22/07 for a 6 yr term. He had previously served more than 30 years in law enforcement, as a senior investigator with the Office of the New York State Attorney General, as a member of the Metro Rochester Firearms Suppression Unit (Project Exile) and on the security detail for then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in upstate New York. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Commissioner Hagler was an investigator sergeant with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the department’s liaison with all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as community groups. We regret there is not comparable information available for other appointees.
Parole Releases for A1VO (unofficial research from parole database)
SUMMARY FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2008
707 interviews were held, of which 92 were initial appearances and 615 were reappearances
86 people (4 of them women) were granted parole
5 people (1 woman) were released on their initial interview,
81 (3 women) were released on a reappearances
20 (1 woman) people were released on their 2nd board, 16 (2 women) on the 3rd, 14 on 4th, 6 on 5th, 12 on 6th, 5 on 7th, 3 on 8th, 4 on 9th, 1 on 11th
JUNE A1VO PAROLE RELEASE SUMMARY:
140 interviews of which 17 were initial appearances and 123 were reappearances
17 people (none women) were granted parole
1 person was released on his initial interview (on a 25-Life)
16 were released on a reappearance.
THE 17 June A1VO PAROLE RELEASES BY PRISON:
Adirondack - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Adirondack - M2 with 22-life on his 6th board
Clinton - M2 with 20-life on his 2nd or 3rd (?) board
Elmira - M2 with 27.5-life on his 2nd board
Fishkill - M2 with 20-life on his 5th board
Green Haven - M2 with 25-life on his 4th board
Groveland - M2 with 15-life on his 4th board
Hudson - M2 with 25-life on his 3rd board
Mid Orange - M2 with 22-life on his 4th board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Otisville - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Riverview - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Sing Sing - M2 with 25-life on his 1st board
Wallkill - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Woodbourne - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
JUNE-JULY 2008 RELEASES BASED ON PRISONERS' REPORTS:
ARTHUR KILL
July-August - Ferguson, Arena, Thompson
60 saw the board, 5 were granted parole
25 were initial interviews; 3 were granted parole
34 were reappearances; 1 was granted parole
1 parole violator was released
GROVELAND - video conference hearing - word of mouth report
June
21 long-termers saw the board; 1 was released on 4th board
MID-ORANGE
June [20 - 30 minute hearings]
43 saw the board; 12 (4 A1V0) were granted parole
All 31 who were denied were given 24 months
July- [5-10 minute hearings] - Ferguson, Lemons, Hagler
18 had hearings; 1 (A1VO) released after 28 years on a 15 - life.
The 17 who were denied all got 24 months.
WYOMING -
June - Vanessa Clarke, Kevin Ludlow, Jenifer Arena
65 saw the board; 15 were granted parole
35 were initial interviews; 7 were granted parole
19 were reappearances; 0 were granted
11 were merit boards; 8 were granted
July - William Smith, Patrick Gallivan, Gerald Greenan
38 saw the board; 6 were granted parole
23 were initial interviews; 4 were granted parole
10 were reappearances; 1 was granted
5 were merit boards; 1 was granted
10. PRISON RADIO - LISTEN TO AMY BARASCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR NYS OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; PRISON ACTION NETWORK, CPR, AND OTHERS TALK ABOUT PAROLE; GEORGE ALEXANDER TAKE QUESTIONS FROM CALLERS.
Amy Barasch and George Alexander will be on the Fancy Broccoli Show on August 3 and 17 respectively.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
Members of PAN, CPR, and others will be guests on On The Count, August 9, at WBAI-NY 99.5FM from 10:30 'til noon. We’ll be discussing Parole and the upcoming Family Empowerment Day 4 which will Take Action to get parole releases for our loved ones.
11. RECOMMENDED READING: "NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS: THE POLITICS OF THE PRISON BOOM ", BY MARIE GOTTSCHALK, THE LEAD ARTICLE IN THE JULY 2008 PRISON LEGAL NEWS. IS A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF HOW WE GOT TO BE THE “WORLD’S WARDEN, INCARCERATING A HIGHER PROPORTION OF ITS PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY.”
An interesting point Gottschalk makes is that we’ve had an “erosion of the separation between state and society in the making of penal policy, allowing blunt measures of public passions, such as opinion polls, to be accorded a central role. This facilitated the prison boom by deflecting attention from the central question of what are the limits, if any, to the state’s power to punish and kill “
[Prison Legal News, 2400 NW 80th St. #148, Seattle WA 98117, 206 246 1022]
12. TELEPHONE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN REPORTS ON LATEST DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE NEW PHONE CONTRACT.
As most readers know, the NY Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) prison telephone contract is supposed to change this year to comply with the Family Connections bill, which we all worked together last year to get passed. Originally we thought it would switch over on April 1, 2008, because the current contract with Global Tel Link was supposed to officially end on March 31, 2008. The last we knew, DOCS was taking 90 days to switch over the contract and had told us it would change in June.
The contract turnover has now been delayed again. GTL has challenged the award of the new contract in court (apparently this is typical in the world of multi-million dollar government contracts), and there is currently litigation pending that is prolonging the implementation of the new contract. DOCS is expecting resolution over the dispute this month, but because of the litigation they have not been able to start any of the work they need to do in advance of the change in contract. DOCS now expects the new contract to be up and running in September.
lauren melodia | center for constitutional rights | 666 broadway 7th floor | ny ny 10012 | 212.614.6481 | lmelodia@ccrjustice.org
13 TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Aug 2 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Aug 9 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Aug 16 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Aug 23 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
CarPooling: Please call 518 253 7533 if you would be willing to take a passenger or if you want a ride.
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
14, SAVE THE DATE!
Saturday October 25 2008
Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC
"Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home"
TIME: 9 - 4
PLACE: Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building, 435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam)
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Board of Parole Chairman George Alexander
"The State of Parole Today"
followed by Q & A session
DOCUMENTARY FILM:
"The Visitors"
featuring families making the bus trip to upstate prisons
followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker and members of the cast, formerly incarcerated people,
and an analyst to 'connect the dots'.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS - STRATEGY SESSION with a TEAM OF ADVISORS
*FREE ADMISSION AND LUNCH
*Networking
*Action Tables - Every table will have an action you can take on the spot
Your support is crucial. Please send your CHECK OR MONEY ORDER MADE OUT TO
Prison Action Network
PO Box 6355
Albany NY 12206
FOR AN ATTRACTIVE FLYER, PLEASE EMAIL PRISON ACTION NETWORK .
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
Posted August 28:
Tune in to Black Entertainment Television (BET) this Friday, August 29, 2008 at 11:30pm to watch the Fortune Society's Vice President of Development and Public Affairs, Glenn E. Martin, featured in an important and timely documentary "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote." In the midst of one of most historic presidential campaigns, the program takes an in-depth look at the voter disfranchisement of men and women with criminal records across the country. The Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy (DRCPP) and the Brennan Center for Justice were approached by BET to help shed light on the myriad laws and practices that bar people with criminal records from the polls and lead to de facto disfranchisement of thousands of eligible men and women in our country. The program is being aired as part of BET's companion coverage for the Democratic National Convention.
About "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote"
In what is undoubtedly another historic election year, as the nation continues its ongoing discussion about the power of the Black vote, BET News correspondent Samson Styles investigates how these laws continue to affect African American votes at the polls. As one of the 5.3 million people in America who has lost the right to vote due to a criminal conviction, Styles sets out on a journey to regain his own voting rights, explore the state-to-state differences of disfranchisement laws, and investigate the national effects of such legislature.
Posted August 25:
If you are at all concerned about the fact that our schools spend more on "security" than on education, and that our school children are treated much the same as people in jail, then you will probably find the video below to be of interest.
Support The Youth, Ensure their Futures, Urge New York City Council Members to sign on and support the School Safety Act. Let's break the School To Prison Pipeline, Let's bring about more Transparency and Accountability within the actions being taken by the School Security Guards and the NYPD, Let's ensure those with Learning Disabilities are not Targeted, Let's Create a more Healthy place for our Youth to Learn in.
For more information on the School to Prison Pipeline: The Student Safety Act, please click on link on the right of this page.
Posted August 6:
Jennifer Arena is gone from the Parole Board, much to the relief of everyone who knew that she lacked the minimum qualifications specified for the job. She has been replaced by Joseph Crangle, who since 2000 has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York. There is now one vacant seat on the Board.
Dear Reader,
It’s been decided. Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC will be held on Saturday October 25, 2008 from 9-4 at the Columbia Law School. The theme is “Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home”. George Alexander, Chairman of Parole, will be the keynote speaker. He will report on “The State of Parole Today”. This is an opportunity for the families of incarcerated people in NYS to meet the head of parole, hear his point of view, and ask questions. (Be sure to listen to his interview on the Fancy Broccoli radio show [#10] on August 17, when he’ll also be taking questions. Any questions left unanswered can be asked in person on Oct 25!) Before we leave FED4-NYC we will have crafted a plan, with help from a team of advisors representing parole, legislative action, and media, for a strategy to obtain fair and just parole decisions. It’s imperative that everyone with a loved one in prison, especially who have indeterminate sentences, represents them at this year’s event. It will be the kickoff event for a major campaign, which cannot be accomplished by only a few people.
We believe that the people who are most invested in the outcome are the logical people to pay for the gathering. So that’s you, and we need your donations. There is no admission charge because incarceration puts a heavy financial burden on families, but IF you can send anything, please do. Is there anyone reading this who can’t spare a dollar or two? Please send it to us. Small donations add up. But larger donations are also necessary. Please be generous. Our victory will require some sacrifice. Checks should be made out to Prison Action Network and sent to our new address, see below. Thank you to those who have already donated.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS FOR PRISON ACTION NETWORK:
Our new address is Prison Action Network, PO Box 6355, Albany NY 12206
In this Issue:
#1 Judge Brieant has died
#2 Crime rates decline in NYS and NYC
#3. DNA test finally possible for Everton Wagstaffe
#4 F.R.E.E. is looking for organizations to speak to school children
#5. Looking for Ms. Keough
#6 Legislative Updates
#7 Lifers and Longtermers Clearinghouse
#8 New York Theological Seminary graduation
#9 Parole updates
#10 Prison Radio
#11 Recommended reading
#12 Telephone Justice Campaign reports on contract
#13 Transportation to prisons
#14 What’s happening in NYS
#15 FED4-NYC information.
Send an email for a copy of the FED4-NYC FLYER to duplicate and distribute far and wide
1. JUDGE CHARLES BRIEANT, IN WHOSE COURT GRAZIANO VS. PATAKI WAS BEING HEARD, DIED ON JULY 20 2008 AT THE AGE OF 85.
Judge Brieant was a great man and a great judge. We are very saddened by his death. According to news reports he had been ill for some time and had not been in court for the last couple of months, which probably explains all the changes in the schedule of hearings during the last year. The cause of his death was not disclosed.
New readers may not know that Judge Brieant was hearing the Graziano vs Pataki lawsuit charging Pataki, and subsequent administrations who did not change the alleged policies, with imposing an unwritten and unlegislated policy of denying parole to A1 Violent Felons based solely upon the nature of their crime.
The case will be assigned to a new judge. In the meantime, the legal team is proceeding with the final stages of discovery.
2. CRIME STATISTICS SHOW NY STATE’S CRIME RATE DECLINED STEADILY FROM 1998 TO 2007. THE LARGEST DECLINE WAS IN THE RATE OF VIOLENT CRIMES. NYC HAD A MUCH LARGER DECLINE THAN COUNTIES OUTSIDE OF THE CITY.
Over the past 10 years, the crime rate in New York State has declined steadily. The largest reductions in crime rate were reported for motor vehicle theft, burglary, and robbery. Overall, the rate of index crimes per 100,000 resident population has declined 33% since 1998; the rate of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) fell 35% and property crimes (burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft) were down 33%.
While New York State’s crime rate has decreased greatly over the past 10 years, New York has also reported a significant reduction in the actual number of crimes reported. Since 1998, the number of major crimes reported has fallen every year to the lowest levels recorded since statewide reporting began nearly 40 years ago. In 2007, there were 190,052 fewer crimes reported than in 1998, while the population of the State has increased by over one million since 1998.
Not all areas of the State have benefited equally from the historic reduction in crime. The decline in Index crime in New York City was much larger than that experienced in counties outside of New York City.
Given the greater decline in crime in New York City, the proportion of statewide crime that each region accounted for has shifted dramatically. The counties outside New York City now account for 56% of the reported crime statewide, as compared to 37% in 1990.
While a higher proportion of the State’s violent crimes occurred in New York City, that region reported a 41% drop in violent crimes since 1998, while the Non-New York City counties reported a decline of 3%. While all violent crime categories declined in New York City between 1998 and 2007, the Non-New York City region reported increases in both murders and rapes over the last 10 years.
Recent Statewide Crime Trends: 2006 vs. 2007
The most recent 2007 crime data show that crime volume in New York State declined for the 17th consecutive year. In 2007, New York State reported an overall drop of 4% in the seven major Index crimes as compared to 2006. Violent crimes dropped by 5% and the largest decline was reported in murders Property crimes were down 4% driven by a 13% drop in motor vehicle thefts.
The Non-New York City region reported larger declines in index, violent and property crimes between 2006 and 2007 than the New York City region. This marks the first time since 1993 that the annual crime decline outside of New York City exceeded the decrease reported within New York City.
3. DNA TEST FINALLY POSSIBLE FOR EVERTON WAGSTAFFE WHO HAS REFUSED TO SEE THE PAROLE BOARD BECAUSE HE CLAIMS HE IS INNOCENT AND THEREFORE CAN’T EXPRESS REMORSE FOR A CRIME HE DIDN’T COMMIT.
Everton Wagstaffe says he is completely innocent of the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to 12 - 25, of which he has served 16.5. He refuses to see the parole board because he won't express remorse for the crime he says he didn't commit. When the case was tried DNA testing was new and so not used on evidence that fortunately still exits. He fought to find a way to have tests done, and finally in June the Legal Aid Society agreed to pay for them. He credits his success to the kindness of strangers, who listened to him and were moved to help.
4. FAMILIES RALLY FOR EMANCIPATION & EMPOWERMENT (F.R.E.E.) OFFERS OPPORTUNITY FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO GET INVOLVED IN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AT OUR WORLD NEIGHBORHOOD CHARTER SCHOOL IN ASTORIA.
The school's current character education program is called the "Pillars of a Positive Community". Each month a pillar is emphasized through various activities, writings and lessons in the classroom. This year we wanted to take it a step further by inviting groups who reflect one of the pillars into our schools to speak with our students and provide opportunities for our students to further understand the pillars through hands-on learning.
The pillars are: Sept: Respect; Oct: Courage; Nov: Kindness; Dec: True Friendship; Jan: Truth; Feb: Responsibility; March: Self Discipline; April: Fairness; May: Citizenship; June: Perseverance
Does your organization reflect one of these pillars and which one? Would you be willing to come to our school and speak to students about your work? Is it possible that our students would be able to get involved with your organization throughout the year to further understand the meaning of each pillar?
Our World Neighborhood Charter School (www.owncs.org) is located in Astoria/Long Island City, 31-20 37th St. Astoria, NY, first exit off Triboro, near the V train.
Please reply to: cbarnes@owncs.org, or Denise B., Families Rally for Emancipation & Empowerment (F.R.E.E); 81 Willoughby St. #701; Brooklyn, NY 11201; (718)852-0012)
5. MS. KEOUGH, WHO FORMERLY TAUGHT BASIC ADULT ED AT EASTERN C.F.
Building Bridges would like to pass on a message from a good friend who was one of Ms. Keough’s former students. Please email Building Bridges if you have any information. Thank you.
6. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ON BILLS PERTAINING TO PRS, HIV/AIDS INFORMATION, JOB DISCRIMINATION, UNANIMOUS PAROLE BOARD DECISIONS, REENTRY TAX CREDIT, 2 MERIT TIME BILLS, PRIVACY OF INFORMATION, WORKING WHERE ALCOHOL IS SOLD, and FREE RAP SHEET.
[Status of several other bills was mentioned in July Building Bridges] (For copies of any of these bills, please email us)
Note that not many of these were signed into law by the governor. Some passed in both houses but are not yet signed; some passed in only one house and need to be reintroduced at the next legislative session which begins January 2009; others stayed in committee and also need to be reintroduced.
PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW BY THE GOVERNOR:
S8714/ A11764 - Nozzolio, Aubry: PRS BILL. Passed and Signed into law. This bill, pertaining to Post Release Supervision, was described in the July Building Bridges.
Building Bridges congratulates all the people who worked in support of this and other important bills! (Even though Post Release Sentencing is a controversial issue, we feel the revised bill is fair and offers timely judicial remedies to those who were never required to be under PRS.) We know it took education, persuasion, compromise and much difficult work to bring these bills from conception into law. We appreciate our representatives who drafted these bills, applaud the Senate members who voted for them, and commend Governor Paterson for his wisdom in signing them. And we don’t take our support in the Assembly for granted either. But it takes everyday people like you and me who are willing to work tirelessly to convince our representatives in government that there is enough support for bills like these to make it safe for them to sponsor them or vote for them. Let us learn from this that we too can change things! Join us at Family Empowerment Day 4 with your ideas, and then roll up your sleeves for a lot of work in the year ahead.
PASSED IN BOTH HOUSES, NOT YET SIGNED BY THE EXECUTIVE:
S8508/ A.8849 - Montgomery, Peoples: DISTRIBUTION OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION INFORMATION to Persons In Prison & Upon Release. Requires New York correctional facilities to provide people in prison with information about the prevention of HIV, and how to obtain HIV-testing and counseling services upon release.
A10288A / S7638A - Aubry, Volker: THE EMPLOYER EDUCATION ACT requires employers to provide a copy of Article 23-A of the Correction law—which makes it illegal to automatically deny employment to qualified job seekers with criminal records and provides guidance on how criminal history information can be appropriately and legally considered amidst the hiring process—to job applicants if they run background checks during the interview process and to post Article 23-A in the workplace, which also requires that any Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) providing information about a job-seeker’s criminal history must also notify employers of their obligations under New York State Law to give the application fair consideration.
Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy asks that you please take a moment out of your busy schedule to call the Governor’s office at 518-474-8390 to voice your support for the Employer Education Act (S7638A/A10288A). And if you have another minute, email them to let them know you called:
PASSED IN ONLY ONE HOUSE, NEED TO BE REINTRODUCED IN JANUARY 2009 WHEN THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS:
S06908 - Nozzolio: Requires, among other things, a UNANIMOUS PAROLE DECISION to release an incarcerated individual convicted of any class A. felony. The bill passed the Senate in April, was delivered to the Assembly where it languished.
A05438A/ S2956B - Jeffries, Montgomery: REENTRY TAX CREDIT establishes a re-entry employment incentive tax credit, providing a $10,000 tax credit to employers who hire individuals released from New York correctional facilities in full-time jobs at 140% of the state minimum wage. It passed in the assembly; was delivered to the Senate in June where it remained in committee.
NEVER MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE. STILL NEED TO BE INTRODUCED FOR A VOTE:
S7889 /A10716 - Montgomery, Aubry: MERIT TIME BILL, affords inmates with the ability to earn a reduction of their sentence after completing significant programming and maintaining a positive disciplinary record. Current law only allows inmates with certain nonviolent convictions to earn merit time. However, the availability of merit time allowance motivates inmates to complete necessary programming and maintain a good disciplinary record. The program has been shown to reduce prison violence and studies show that inmates granted merit time and released early have lower recidivism rates. Therefore, this bill expands the availability of the merit time program to all inmates. 4/28/08 referred to crime victims, crime and correction.
S3578 - Montgomery: MERIT TIME BILL INTRODUCED IN 2007, didn’t move out of committee. Reintroduced in Jan.’08. Provides for vesting of merit time allowance and release for prisoners with good behavior with certain limitations; provides commissioner of correctional services shall promulgate rules and regulations for merit time allowance to determine which inmates are good candidates for release. Didn’t move out of committee again this session.
S7660/ A10866 - Volker, Aubry: AMENDS THE NYS HUMAN RIGHTS LAW so that individuals are not required to divulge information pertaining to Youthful Offender adjudications and sealed violation convictions. In other words, to clarify that individuals are not required to divulge sealed information about arrests or prosecutions terminated in favor of the accused, youthful offender adjudications, and sealed non-criminal violations. It never moved out of committee.
S8022B - Winner: allows qualified individuals with criminal records to be employed in certain establishments that hold liquor licenses. Never moved out of committee.
S4970A/ A6387A - Volker, Aubry: RAP SHEET BILL requiring the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Department of Correctional Services to provide a rap sheet, free of charge, to every individual being released from a New York State correctional facility, on the day of release. Each rap sheet should be accompanied by instructions for how to read, understand, and review the rap sheet for errors. Never moved out of committee.
7. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE: CALL TO ACTION! WE NEED THE FAMILIES, LOVED-ONES AND SUPPORTERS OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS TO BE INFORMED ABOUT A SPECIAL MEETING THAT HAS BEEN ARRANGED BETWEEN THEM AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF PAROLE.
This special meeting is designed to accomplish three immediate goals: 1) to bring together at one place and time those who are willing to represent and speak for those who are incarcerated in the New York State prison system, 2) to use this meeting as a first step in organizing a grassroots movement to empower these representatives and give voice to their call for a more just and equitable parole system, and 3) to establish a continuing dialogue between those communities that contribute a disproportionate percentage of the state prison population and who have a personal stake in the public safety of the environments where they live and raise families, and the corrections and parole agencies whose policies and practices have a more direct impact on these communities than other jurisdictions.
The articulation of these three goals and the on-going efforts to reach a consensus between the primary community stakeholders involved (family and community representatives, incarcerated members of the community, and the organized criminal justice advocates) about how to achieve them, constitute the initial stages of a unified strategy to bring about just and equitable parole laws and procedures.
Regarding the three primary community stakeholders, the incarcerated community members have a crucial role to play despite their imprisonment. It is the task of the incarcerated community members to notify their families and supporters about the October 25th Family Empowerment Day 4-NYC meeting with the Chairman of Parole, and to convey to them how vital it is that they attend and register.
The initial mobilization of the families and supporters of the incarcerated begins with their attendance and registration on October 25th and it is the responsibility of the incarcerated to contact them and insist that they participate in Family Empowerment Day 4-NYC.
Most often the dialogue between the incarcerated and their families and supporters regarding parole is based on complaints and commiseration, with little that family and supporters can do but echo the grievances of the incarcerated. Well now the situation calls for a dialogue based upon a discussion of objective steps to be taken by each, and the up-front role the families and supporters are required to play in a face to face meeting.
FED4 announcements providing information about the events scheduled to take place are being made available to lifer and long-termer organizations and key individuals. Word about FED4-NYC should be spread on the buses and visiting rooms and emphasis given to the importance of having an enormous turnout of families and supporters. We have enough time to make this happen!
Larry White, Co-Chair
PAN Clearinghouse Project
8. NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY GRADUATES TWELVE AT SING SING PRISON
Congratulations to the New York Theological Seminary's Class of 2008. The 12 graduates from the 26th graduating class at Sing Sing were: Daniel Callahan, Jae Choi, Gregorio (Koko) Cruz, Theodore (Theo) Harris, Gaston (the Judge) Jones, Joseph Mazzaferro, Robert Rose, John Royster, Warren Streeter, Nicholas Tellone, John (Divine G.) Whitfield, Juan Williams. We wish the graduates the best.
9. PAROLE BOARD ADDS MARY ROSS AND MICHAEL HAGLER; YEAR-TO-DATE A1VO PAROLE RELEASES; FACILITY STATISTICS FROM ARTHUR KILL, GROVELAND, MID-ORANGE AND WYOMING PRISONS
Parole Board Appointments:
In our July issue we reported that Joseph B. Crangle and Mary Ross had been nominated and were awaiting Senate confirmation. Apparently Crangle was not confirmed but Ms. Ross was, on June 19, to a 5 year term. There's no mention of Mr. Crangle on the Parole website. It does show that there are now 18 commissioners, and the last one to be confirmed before Mary Ross was Michael A. Hagler who was nominated by Spitzer and confirmed on 10/22/07 for a 6 yr term. He had previously served more than 30 years in law enforcement, as a senior investigator with the Office of the New York State Attorney General, as a member of the Metro Rochester Firearms Suppression Unit (Project Exile) and on the security detail for then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in upstate New York. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Commissioner Hagler was an investigator sergeant with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the department’s liaison with all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as community groups. We regret there is not comparable information available for other appointees.
Parole Releases for A1VO (unofficial research from parole database)
SUMMARY FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2008
707 interviews were held, of which 92 were initial appearances and 615 were reappearances
86 people (4 of them women) were granted parole
5 people (1 woman) were released on their initial interview,
81 (3 women) were released on a reappearances
20 (1 woman) people were released on their 2nd board, 16 (2 women) on the 3rd, 14 on 4th, 6 on 5th, 12 on 6th, 5 on 7th, 3 on 8th, 4 on 9th, 1 on 11th
JUNE A1VO PAROLE RELEASE SUMMARY:
140 interviews of which 17 were initial appearances and 123 were reappearances
17 people (none women) were granted parole
1 person was released on his initial interview (on a 25-Life)
16 were released on a reappearance.
THE 17 June A1VO PAROLE RELEASES BY PRISON:
Adirondack - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Adirondack - M2 with 22-life on his 6th board
Clinton - M2 with 20-life on his 2nd or 3rd (?) board
Elmira - M2 with 27.5-life on his 2nd board
Fishkill - M2 with 20-life on his 5th board
Green Haven - M2 with 25-life on his 4th board
Groveland - M2 with 15-life on his 4th board
Hudson - M2 with 25-life on his 3rd board
Mid Orange - M2 with 22-life on his 4th board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Otisville - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Riverview - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Sing Sing - M2 with 25-life on his 1st board
Wallkill - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Woodbourne - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
JUNE-JULY 2008 RELEASES BASED ON PRISONERS' REPORTS:
ARTHUR KILL
July-August - Ferguson, Arena, Thompson
60 saw the board, 5 were granted parole
25 were initial interviews; 3 were granted parole
34 were reappearances; 1 was granted parole
1 parole violator was released
GROVELAND - video conference hearing - word of mouth report
June
21 long-termers saw the board; 1 was released on 4th board
MID-ORANGE
June [20 - 30 minute hearings]
43 saw the board; 12 (4 A1V0) were granted parole
All 31 who were denied were given 24 months
July- [5-10 minute hearings] - Ferguson, Lemons, Hagler
18 had hearings; 1 (A1VO) released after 28 years on a 15 - life.
The 17 who were denied all got 24 months.
WYOMING -
June - Vanessa Clarke, Kevin Ludlow, Jenifer Arena
65 saw the board; 15 were granted parole
35 were initial interviews; 7 were granted parole
19 were reappearances; 0 were granted
11 were merit boards; 8 were granted
July - William Smith, Patrick Gallivan, Gerald Greenan
38 saw the board; 6 were granted parole
23 were initial interviews; 4 were granted parole
10 were reappearances; 1 was granted
5 were merit boards; 1 was granted
10. PRISON RADIO - LISTEN TO AMY BARASCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR NYS OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; PRISON ACTION NETWORK, CPR, AND OTHERS TALK ABOUT PAROLE; GEORGE ALEXANDER TAKE QUESTIONS FROM CALLERS.
Amy Barasch and George Alexander will be on the Fancy Broccoli Show on August 3 and 17 respectively.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
Members of PAN, CPR, and others will be guests on On The Count, August 9, at WBAI-NY 99.5FM from 10:30 'til noon. We’ll be discussing Parole and the upcoming Family Empowerment Day 4 which will Take Action to get parole releases for our loved ones.
11. RECOMMENDED READING: "NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS: THE POLITICS OF THE PRISON BOOM ", BY MARIE GOTTSCHALK, THE LEAD ARTICLE IN THE JULY 2008 PRISON LEGAL NEWS. IS A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF HOW WE GOT TO BE THE “WORLD’S WARDEN, INCARCERATING A HIGHER PROPORTION OF ITS PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY.”
An interesting point Gottschalk makes is that we’ve had an “erosion of the separation between state and society in the making of penal policy, allowing blunt measures of public passions, such as opinion polls, to be accorded a central role. This facilitated the prison boom by deflecting attention from the central question of what are the limits, if any, to the state’s power to punish and kill “
[Prison Legal News, 2400 NW 80th St. #148, Seattle WA 98117, 206 246 1022]
12. TELEPHONE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN REPORTS ON LATEST DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE NEW PHONE CONTRACT.
As most readers know, the NY Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) prison telephone contract is supposed to change this year to comply with the Family Connections bill, which we all worked together last year to get passed. Originally we thought it would switch over on April 1, 2008, because the current contract with Global Tel Link was supposed to officially end on March 31, 2008. The last we knew, DOCS was taking 90 days to switch over the contract and had told us it would change in June.
The contract turnover has now been delayed again. GTL has challenged the award of the new contract in court (apparently this is typical in the world of multi-million dollar government contracts), and there is currently litigation pending that is prolonging the implementation of the new contract. DOCS is expecting resolution over the dispute this month, but because of the litigation they have not been able to start any of the work they need to do in advance of the change in contract. DOCS now expects the new contract to be up and running in September.
lauren melodia | center for constitutional rights | 666 broadway 7th floor | ny ny 10012 | 212.614.6481 | lmelodia@ccrjustice.org
13 TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Aug 2 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Aug 9 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Aug 16 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Aug 23 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
CarPooling: Please call 518 253 7533 if you would be willing to take a passenger or if you want a ride.
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
14, SAVE THE DATE!
Saturday October 25 2008
Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC
"Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home"
TIME: 9 - 4
PLACE: Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building, 435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam)
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Board of Parole Chairman George Alexander
"The State of Parole Today"
followed by Q & A session
DOCUMENTARY FILM:
"The Visitors"
featuring families making the bus trip to upstate prisons
followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker and members of the cast, formerly incarcerated people,
and an analyst to 'connect the dots'.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS - STRATEGY SESSION with a TEAM OF ADVISORS
*FREE ADMISSION AND LUNCH
*Networking
*Action Tables - Every table will have an action you can take on the spot
Your support is crucial. Please send your CHECK OR MONEY ORDER MADE OUT TO
Prison Action Network
PO Box 6355
Albany NY 12206
FOR AN ATTRACTIVE FLYER, PLEASE EMAIL PRISON ACTION NETWORK .
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
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