In this issue…
Calling for the Urgent Passage of #LessIsMoreNY
Join Us for our New Haven Monthly Meeting
Calling for the Urgent Passage of #LessIsMoreNY
Katal members and staff leading the #LessIsMoreNY campaign at Wednesday’s hearing on Resolution 829, sponsored by Councilmember Keith Powers.
Wednesday morning, our members and team gave testimony at New York City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee hearing that included Resolution 829, a resolution in suport of the Less is More: Community Supervision Revocation Reform Act.
The resolution follows a shocking report by the Gothamist, which details several allegations of Administrative Law Judges being pressured to put people on parole behind bars for minor technical violations. The resolution, sponsored by Councilmember Keith Powers, calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and for the Governor to sign, the Less Is More Act which would reduce jail and prison populations; support people who are subject to community supervision in the reentry process; promote safety and justice for families and communities; and save taxpayers money. The Committee is expected to pass the resolution and send it to the full council for a vote.
Passing Less is More will help decarcerate jails and prisons in New York, and expedite the closure of Rikers Island.
Donna Hylton, Director of the Women and Girl’s Project for the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice, said: “Thank you Councilmember Keith Powers for introducing Resolution 829, calling on the state legislature and Governor to support the Less Is More Act. For years, the pretrial system in New York has been terribly broken. People have been stuck in jail, stuck in the system, stuck in an endless cycle of injustice. I know this personally, from my own experience and from the countless stories of formerly incarcerated people I hear every day, especially from the women I work with and serve. The justice system in New York City must be wholly transformed, and the City must dramatically cut down the number of people in detention. At the state level, we’ve just won bail reform, which will drop jail populations significantly. Now we must focus on proper implementation while continuing to move reforms forward in Albany. I support Resolution 829 and urge the committee and entire council to pass it immediately. The Legislature and Governor should immediately pass the Less Is More Act to reduce the number of people on parole who are detained on Rikers, and jails and prisons in New York State. And I call on the City to promptly close Rikers Island, and chart a new path to justice and freedom for all New Yorkers.”
Read our full release here.
Join us for our New Haven Monthly Meeting
We invite members of the community to join us Saturday, May 4th from 12-1:30pm at Fair Haven Library for our New Haven Monthly Member Meeting, facilitated by our Community Organizer, Dajuan Wiggins.
The goals of this meeting are to:
- Identify and discuss resources for collective action on issues that effect YOU– our member;
- Build leadership and organizing capacity of directly impacted people, and neighborhood residents of all ages.
To learn more about our work in Connecticut and to RSVP for this meeting, contact our Community Organizers, Dajuan Wiggins at dwiggins@katalcenter.org or 203.295.4888; and Kenyatta Thompson at kthompson@katalcenter.org or 860.937.6094. We hope you’ll join us!
