Contact: Yonah Zeitz – 347-201-2768 – yonah@katalcenter.org
Follow online: #LessIsMoreNY | www.lessismoreny.org
#LessIsMoreNY Coalition, Community Members, Families, and People Directly Impacted by Parole to Rally Outside the NYC Office of Governor Cuomo: Sign the Less Is More Act Now
New York, NY – On Thursday, July 15 at 12:00 PM, outside Governor Cuomo’s Office at 633 3rd Avenue in Manhattan and on Instagram at @katalcenter — the #LessIsMoreNY Coalition will join community members, family members of incarcerated people, and people directly impacted by parole in New York to demand Governor Andrew Cuomo sign the Less Is More parole reform bill. With over 35,000 people incarcerated in New York and over 5,000 people incarcerated for technical parole violations, urgent action must be taken to decarcerate New York prisons. New York currently leads the nation in incarcerated people for technical violations of parole such as missing a curfew or failing an alcohol test.
Speakers at the action will illustrate how they have been impacted by parole in New York, describe the arduous parole process, reflect on the immense consequences of incarceration for technical violations, and demand that Governor Andrew Cuomo sign #LessIsMoreNY.
WHAT: #LessIsMoreNY Rally
WHEN: Thursday, July 15 from 12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Outside of Governor Cuomo’s Office at 633 3rd Avenue, New York, NY
WHO: #LessIsMoreNY Campaign, People Directly Impacted by Parole, and community and advocacy groups.
WATCH LIVE ON INSTAGRAM: @katalcenter
About Less Is More:
The Less Is More Act would have an immediate impact on the more than 34,000 people on parole supervision in New York. The bill restricts the use of incarceration as a sentence in most technical violations, bolsters due process, provides speedy hearings, and provides an earned time credit for those on parole.
Parole supervision, and the resulting incarceration of people for technical parole violations, disproportionately impacts Black people, families and communities. Parole in New York is wrought with racial disparity: In New York City, Black people and Latinx people are 12x and 4x more likely to be incarcerated for a technical parole violation. In New York State, Black people are incarcerated for technical violations of parole at 5x the rate of whites, and Latinx people are 30 percent more likely than whites to be reincarcerated for technical parole violations.
The Less is More bill, S.1144A (Benjamin) / A.5576A (Forrest), passed the NY legislature in June. The bill will transform the parole process in New York to focus resources on helping people get back to life after prison by limiting the incarceration of people for technical parole violation and by incentivizing rehabilitation through successful completion of parole. The reforms in the Less Is More Act are supported by over 280 community advocacy groups, 9 District Attorneys from the counties of Albany, Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Nassau, Queens, Tompkins, Ulster, & Westchester, and law enforcement leaders from across New York including the Albany and Erie County Sheriffs. A full list of supporters and more information on the Less Is More Act can be found at www.lessismoreny.org.
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