In this issue:
- Bail Reform Under Attack
- A Majority of #LessIsMoreNY Takes Effect
- We’re hiring – NY Community Organizer Position
- Quotes of the Week
Bail Reform Under Attack
Yesterday, the NY Post reported that Governor Hochul is calling for further rollbacks to bail reform and other criminal justice reform in the 2022 budget. Last night, we released a statement from our Director of Advocacy, Yonah Zeitz:
“It is terrible for Governor Hochul to choose fear-based politics over facts and people’s lives. For decades, the pretrial incarceration crisis in New York perpetuated mass incarceration and racial disparities in the state’s justice system. Katal and dozens of community and advocacy organizations from across our state worked for years to pass sensible bail reform in 2019. The success of bail reform is in the data — bail reform is working for public safety and justice. It has prevented tens of thousands of New Yorkers from being detained in jails simply because they cannot afford to buy their freedom. Opponents of reform who are grossly committed to caging human beings used racist fearmongering and outright lies in Albany to rollback some of those reforms in 2020. Tellingly, those rollbacks led to more people, mostly Black and Brown people, being jailed across the state. We are deeply disappointed to see Governor Hochul take a page out of former Governor Cuomo’s playbook to do this again. We urge the New York Legislature to reject the racist fearmongering and manufactured hysteria that is driving these regressive proposals. Do not roll bail reform. Do not roll back discovery reform. Do not roll back Raise the Age. Do not pass these ridiculous so-called “tough on crime” proposals that do not and have never made communities safe. Such proposals will increase jail and prison populations, further entrench racial disparities, and imperil the effort to close the notorious Rikers Island Jail Complex. We call on the Governor and Legislature to continue to decarcerate, close more prisons and jails, and invest in real safety: housing, health care, education, and jobs.”
Follow us on Twitter at @katalcenter to stay up to date with our efforts to prevent further bail rollbacks. To learn more about the historic fight to reform bail in New York from 2017-2019, check out our Making Sense of Bail Reform in NYS, Part 1 and Making Sense of Bail Reform in NYS, Part 2 editorials.
A Majority of #LessIsMoreNY Takes Effect
As a result of #LessIsMoreNY being signed into law last September, more than 1,500 people have been released from jails and prisons across New York. These were folks on parole who had been incarcerated for alleged noncriminal technical violations of parole. On March 1st, the next stages of Less Is More went into effect – ending automatic detention for alleged technical violations and establishing new due process protections for people on parole who are accused of noncriminal violations. Over the next few months, 8,000 people – more than 25% of the entire parole population — will be discharged early due to the Less Is More Act. And over the last few weeks, a number of our members were discharged early from parole due to the retroactive earned time credits (30 for 30) in Less Is More.
The impact of Less Is More is wide-reaching. On March 10th, New York state closed six prisons and the Less Is More Act helped make this possible. Katal is featured in this USA TODAY network article about the prison closures.
The remaining provisions—the recalculation of sanctions of incarceration and the earned-time credits provisions— will take effect in the late summer and early fall, leading to thousands more people being released from incarceration.
But implementation hasn’t been without its problems. This month, the American Prospect and New York Focus co-published an article about the problems of implementation, featuring our co-executive director, gabriel sayegh. “The distance between reform moving through the legislature and being signed into law, and being effectuated inside of these bureaucracies, is profound,” sayegh said. “These bureaucracies are slow to change and absolutely resistant to it, from top to bottom.”
We are not letting up in our organizing work to secure full, effective, and immediate implementation.
We are Organizing Across New York
#LessIsMoreNY Info-session with ALPOL, Exodus & the Newburgh LGBTQ Cente, 3.9.22
We continue holding #LessIsMoreNY info sessions and house parties across the state to inform people about Less Is More. Last week, we hosted a #LessIsMoreNY info session with A Little Piece of Light, Exodus, and the Newburgh LGBTQ Center, where we answered lots of questions about the provisions of the bill and implementation. If you would like host a #LessIsMoreNY house party or info session, please contact Melanie Dominguez at Melanie@katalcenter.org.
Got questions about the Less Is More Act? Join us on Tuesday, March 22 from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. for our next #LessIsMoreNY Campaign Update call.
We’re hiring – NYC Community Organizer Position
We’re hiring for a community organizer in New York. This is a great opportunity for organizers who want to join a stellar organizing team focused on:
- Building collective power
- Advancing racial justice
- Developing the leadership of neighborhood residents
Click here for more info and to apply for the New York Community Organizer Position!
Katal Quotes of the Week
These are some of the quotes we’re thinking about this week.
“On the one hand, I have endured, and on the other hand, I have changed. I can remember swearing when I was young that I would not change, because if I changed, I’d betray the revolution. As I’ve grown older, I’ve understood that I should change, and that changing is more honorable than not changing.” – Grace Lee Boggs
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” – Pema Chödrön
“The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely.” – Lorraine Hansberry
Be safe as possible out there, and get vaccinated as soon as you can. If you want to get involved, learn more about our work, or just connect, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Katal works to strengthen the people, policies, institutions, and movements that advance equity, health, and justice. Join us: web, Twitter, Facebook! Email: info@katalcenter.org. Phone: 646.875.8822.