statement from glenn e. martin, justleadershipusa and gabriel sayegh, katal center for health, equity, and justice on mayor bill de blasio’s announcement of the reduction in new york city’s jail population
Closerikers.org Glenn E. Martin, President and founder of JustLeadershipUSA, and Gabriel Sayegh, Co-founder and Co-Executive Director of the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice are leaders in the #CLOSErikers campaign. They issued the following statements in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that the New York City jail population has declined dramatically since […]
#closerikers group to protest de blasio at fundraiser in florida
Closerikers.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Gabriel Sayegh, Katal Center, 646-335-2264, gabriel@katalcenter.org Janos Marton, JLUSA, 917-848-6915, janos@justleadershipusa.org March 3, 2017 NY group joins Florida criminal justice reform advocates to protest mass incarceration and the need to close poor functioning jails. The #CLOSErikers campaign will rally at the Hyatt Pier 66 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Saturday, March 4 to continue […]
coba battles those who want to close rikers island
Amsterdam News New York City Councilman Danny Dromm of Queens wants to close Rikers Island. The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association has something to say about that this election season. In January, the union started sending postcards to Dromm’s constituents criticizing him for wanting to close the prison and not paying proper attention to crime occurring […]
portland pilot program gets people charged with low level offenses help, not jail time
The Skanner To lower the number of people entering the criminal justice system, a program called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, puts treatment ahead of arrests. In the coming months Portland will be introducing the still largely experimental program that offers social services to individuals possessing small amounts of cocaine, meth or heroin. Originally […]
‘i lost four years with my father’: protesters renew calls to shut down rikers
Rewire Rikers has become a symbol among activists of a rotten prison system, plagued with a history of reported excessive force used against inmates. More than 275 protesters held a march on Sunday to call for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to close the highly controversial Rikers Island jail complex. The protest culminated […]
held indefinitely: will anything ever change at rikers island?
City & State New York Last fall, a group of New School students decided to participate in some subway vandalism. After noticing the official MTA subway map didn’t have Rikers Island labeled, they began posting stickers around the beige oval near LaGuardia Airport in Queens. “Rikers is here,” the red circles said, and below that, […]
nearly 1,000 people march and rally in queens in action to close rikers island jail complex
For Immediate Release September 26, 2016 Contact: Gabriel Sayegh, 646-335-2264 Valrie Fowler, 347-622-3694 […]
“kalief’s law” aims to reform pretrial detention after honoree spent 3 years in rikers awaiting trial
NewsOne The New York State Assembly has passed “Kalief’s Law” in an effort to regulate the right to a speedy trial and ensure that people aren’t held in pretrial detention for longer than necessary, according to the Amsterdam News. The measure, passed in early June, is named for Kalief Browder, a Black man who was arrested as a teen in 2010 on […]
low-level drug offenders find new source of addiction help
The Ledger SEATTLE — When pondering how to keep low-level drug offenders out of jail, officials in Albany, New York, faced a challenge: How could they pay for a case manager to coax addicts onto the straight and narrow, sometimes by tracking them down on the streets? The money turned up in a previously untapped […]
how the city of albany is advancing smart criminal justice reform
HuffPost Yesterday marked the launch of Albany’s innovative Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, making New York’s capital city the first jurisdiction on the East Coast, and only the third in the nation, to launch LEAD. Albany’s reform approach highlights the growing role cities are playing in the growing national movement to end mass incarceration […]
