In this issue…
Today’s NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call
#LessIsMoreNY Phone Zap and Campaign Update Call
Today’s NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call and the 50 Year Anniversary of the Attica Uprising
Lorenzo Jones facilitating today’s NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call
Today we hosted our NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call. We had a lively discussion with updates on what’s happening at the state capitol on criminal justice reform.
Our speakers for the NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call included:
- Artie Malkin, Malkin & Ross (lobbyist) discussed the major shifts in Albany with Gov. Hochul — and what these changes may mean for criminal justice reform in the next legislative session.
- Donna Hylton, A Little Piece of Light: provided an update on the fight to get the Governor to sign the #LessIsMoreNY parole reform act.
- Soffiyah Elijah, Alliance of Families for Justice: spoke about the “Attica is All of Us” event happening tonight and provided an insightful historical summary of the uprising.
- Anne Rabe, New York State Defenders Association: talked about the Justice Equity Act, which provides all public defenders direct access to their clients’ criminal justice history records and rap sheets.
- Jordyn Rosenthal, Women’s Community Justice Association: discussed the #BEYONDrosies campaign to close the women’s jail at Rikers and provide more supportive services to women.
- Casey Dalporto, New York County Defenders Service: spoke about their campaign to address New York’s wrongful conviction problem by promoting fundamental fairness for people pursuing post-conviction review of criminal convictions.
Today also marks the 50th anniversary of the uprising at Attica. This seminal event played a formative role in developing today’s anti-prison movements and movements to end mass incarceration. Starting tonight, there will be events taking place across the state in commemoration of the Attica uprising. At 6 PM this evening, Alliance of Families for Justice bis hosting Attica is All of Us, an event to share peoples voices, memories and archives about the momentous history of the events of September 9-13, 1971. Katal is a proud sponsor of this event. We were grateful to Soffiyah Elijah Of AFJ for joining this month’s statewide call. Register here for tonight’s Attica event.
The goals of the NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call are to:
- Highlight issues, campaigns, and projects that groups are working on to advance statewide reform;
- Identify ways to align, coordinate, and support each other in the work to end mass incarceration in New York;
- Strengthen community organizing and advocacy organizations to build movement in New York.
If you have any questions about the statewide call or would like to present on an upcoming call, please contact Yonah at yonah@katalcenter.org.
#LessIsMoreNY Phone Zap and Campaign Update Call
Shoshana Horowitz from New Hour Opening the #LessIsMoreNY Phone Zap
Right now there are more than 35,000 people on parole in New York subject to incarceration at any moment for non-criminal technical violations, like missing an appointment. And thousands of people — overwhelmingly Black and Latinx people — are currently incarcerated for non-criminal technical violations of parole in New York. The #LessIsMoreNY Act will change this — but first Governor Hochul must sign it into law.
Last Wednesday, we continued our efforts to urge Gov. Hochul to sign #LessIsMoreNY into law. We held a #LessIsMoreNY Phone sponsored by New Hour Long Island and the Long Island Social Justice Action Network (LISJAN). During the Phone Zap, communities members made phone calls, sent emails, and even faxed Governor Hochul to demand that she signs the #LessIsMoreNY Act immediately. Please be on the lookout for upcoming Phone Zaps later this month!
Join us next Wednesday, September 15 from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. for our next #LessIsMoreNY Campaign Update call. Register to join us!
During the campaign update call we will:
- Share updates about the #LessIsMoreNY Act and campaign;
- Discuss next steps in the fight to get it signed into law;
- Provide details about how to get involved.
We’re so close — let’s get #LessIsMoreNY across the finish line so we can decarcerate in New York.
If you have any questions about the #LessIsMoreNY Campaign Update call, please contact Kenyatta at kenyatta@katalcenter.org.
Katal Quotes of the Week
**This is a new section to our email update. We will provide quotes from organizers, activists, writers, poets, etc. that inspire our work.
“Because you are human beings you are going to meet failure. You are going to meet disappointment, injustice, betrayal, and irreparable loss. You will find you’re weak where you thought yourself strong. You’ll work for possessions and then find they possess you. You will find yourself — as I know you already have — in dark places, alone, and afraid. What I hope for you, for all my sisters and daughters, brothers and sons, is that you will be able to live there, in the dark place. To live in the place that our rationalizing culture of success denies, calling it a place of exile, uninhabitable, foreign.”
—Ursula Le Guin
“Love is an action, never simply a feeling.”
—bell hooks
Our statewide calls are back next month! Join us for the next NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call is on Thursday, September 9 from 12:00 p.m. – 11:00 noon.
Sign up for the Katal Connecticut Update
We announced in March that, after nearly 5 years, we’re ending the Katal Weekly Update, and moving to two separate email updates — one for New York, another for Connecticut. If you’d also like to keep up what we’re doing in Connecticut, please click here to sign up for the Katal Connecticut Update!
Katal works to strengthen the people, policies, institutions, and movements that advance health, equity, and justice for everyone. Join us: web, Twitter, Facebook! Email: info@katalcenter.org. Phone: 646.875.8822.
