MEDIA ADVISORY
Monday, January 29, 10am
Contact:
Shayna Samuels, shayna@ripplestrategies.com, 718-541-4785
Glenn Turner, glenn@ripplestrategies.com, 917-817-3396
National & New York Probation and Parole Systems Need Radical Overhaul, Say Two Upcoming Reports
Van Jones to Join Nation’s Leading Corrections Experts for NYC Press Breakfast Monday, January 29, 10am
Simulcast Available for Those Outside of NYC – Link Available Upon Request
(New York, NY) – Two new reports will be released by Columbia University’s Justice Lab on Monday, January 29 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.
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 African American men. Fortunately, these reports offer a way out.
The New York report is particularly relevant as state and city leaders are working to close the jail complex on Rikers Island, requiring a reduction in the NYC jail population. The national report, which also has specific policy recommendations, was signed by 20 of the nation’s leading corrections administrators, 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; Terri McDonald, Los Angeles County Chief Probation Officer; and Vincent Schiraldi, former NYC Probation Commissioner.
WHAT: Press Breakfast to Release 2 New Reports About Reforming Systems of Parole & Probation Nationally and in New York
WHEN: Monday, January 29, 10am ET
WHERE: Midtown Manhattan – RSVP for location to imani@katalcenter.org.
WHO: 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
Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Research Scientist at Columbia Justice Lab and lead author of the new reports
Topeka K. Sam, The Ladies of Hope Ministries, Probation and Parole Accountability Project
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.
Jessica Jackson, National Director and Co-Founder, #Cut50
gabriel sayegh, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice (MC)
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