Event Recap – January 29, 2018
Press Conference & Panel Discussion for Release of Two New Reports: National & New York Probation and Parole Systems Need Radical Overhaul
National Report: Too big to succeed: The Impact of the Growth of Community Corrections and What Should Be Done About It
New York Report: Less is More in New York: An Examination of the Impact of State Parole Violations on Prison and Jail Populations
(New York, NY) – More than 100 participants and press gathered today for the release of two new reports by Columbia University’s Justice Lab, looking at probation and parole as key drivers of mass incarceration with minimal benefit to public safety or individual rehabilitation. One report is national in scope while the other focuses specifically on New York State and City. The event, held at the Columbia University Club of New York, included a panel discussion with policy experts, advocates and organizers, and media personalities. The discussion focused on the human impacts of a broken community supervision system – and what can be done to fix it. (See Associated Press story here and Daily News oped here.)
Currently there are nearly five million adults under community corrections supervision in America – more than double the number in prison and jail with a four-fold increase over the past several decades. Many end up reincarcerated for technical violations, putting a massive financial burden on the corrections system; and disproportionately punishing young Black men.
The national report, Too Big to Succeed was released by the Justice Lab at Columbia University and signed by 20 of the nation’s leading corrections administrators. According to the new report, there are nearly five million adults under community corrections supervision in America (more than double the number in prison and jail). The almost four-fold expansion of community corrections since 1980 without a corresponding increase in resources has strained many of the nation’s thousands of community supervision departments, often unnecessarily depriving clients of their liberty without improving public safety.
Underfunded and with few alternatives, community corrections officers have learned to default to the most available option they have for those who violate the terms of their supervision — prison.Many are reincarcerated for nothing more than a technical violation. These punishments fall most heavily on young Black men.
The New York report, Less is More in New York, notes that while crime is declining in the City and jail populations have dipped below 9,000 for the first time in 35 years, only one population has increased – those in city jails for state parole violations (by 15%). And 81% of those incarcerated in city jails for parole violations are either in for technical violations, misdemeanors, or non-violent felony arrests.
As state and city leaders agree that the jail complex on Rikers Island should be closed requiring a reduction in the NYC jail population, the report argues that the solution could be reducing unnecessary incarceration of persons on parole as well as to shrink the overall parole population and focus supervision and supports on those who need it the most.
Recommendations: National
Leading probation and parole administrators that signed onto the national report, including: Ana Bermudez, Commissioner of New York City Probation; Jim Cosby, former head of the National Institute of Corrections; Marcus Hodges, President of the National Association of Probation Executives; Michael Jacobson, former NYC Corrections and Probation Commissioner;; and Terri McDonald, Los Angeles County Chief Probation Officer, urge that:
- Probation and parole populations be cut in half
- Revocations to incarceration be sharply curbed
- Probation and parole fines be curtailed, and
- A portion of the savings from this downsizing be funneled into supports and programs for persons under supervision
Recommendations: New York
In New York,City and State leaders agree that Rikers Island should be closed. They also agree that more needs to be done to address parole violations. Toward those ends, the report’s authors suggest the following policy approaches, many of which have been found successful in other states:
- Shorten parole terms and incentivize good behavior by allowing people to earn accelerated discharge
- Require a hearing before a judicial officer before jailing someone accused of a technical violation
- Create a high legal threshold for jailing people on parole for less serious offenses and expedite their hearings
- Cap violation terms
- Require the use of graduated sanctions and rewards prior to revoking people under supervision to incarceration
- Reallocate savings to community programs
Event Speakers:
- Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Research Scientist at Columbia Justice Lab and lead author of the new reports
- Van Jones, President & Co-Founder of #Cut50, which works to cut crime and incarceration in all 50 states. Jones is also the founder of The Dream Corps and host of “The Van Jones Show” to premiere on CNN Jan. 27
- Donna Hylton, women’s rights activist and criminal justice reform advocate. Her memoir, ‘A Little Piece of Light,’tells the story of the childhood abuse she endured, the spiral of events that lead to her incarceration and how she learned to live, love and trust all over again.
- Topeka K. Sam, The Ladies of Hope Ministries, Probation and Parole Accountability Project
- Jessica Jackson, National Director and Co-Founder, #Cut50
- gabriel sayegh, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice (MC)
Hashtags: #StillNotFree #CLOSErikers #LessIsMoreNY
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