More from The Appeal:
Despite calls to reduce incarcerated populations, the number of people being detained for minor parole violations has been rising.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Feb 10, 2021
After organizing to repeal the “walking while trans” ban, advocates in the state—and around the country—are looking ahead to the next fight.
Bryce Covert Feb 09, 2021
The New York governor has released a plan to legalize marijuana, months after voters in the Garden State approved legalization in November. Advocates say the pressure could have ripple effects regionally.
Joshua Vaughn Jan 26, 2021
The Court’s willingness to infer discrimination against Judeo-Christian religions from poorly articulated remarks that accompanied a public health response to COVID-19 may make other laws and policies vulnerable to claims of religious discrimination as well.
Leah Litman Dec 09, 2020
On his first day in office, George Gascón said prosecutors will not seek bail starting Jan. 1, a win for criminal justice reformers.
Eliyahu Kamisher Dec 07, 2020
New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say dishonest fearmongering about bail reform—and the politicians who capitulated to it—have created a very real safety crisis.
Joshua Manson Nov 30, 2020
In addition to the releases he has already ordered, the New York governor can grant commutations to free more incarcerated people to protect them from the disease. He has issued only three since the pandemic began.
The governor has rolled back bail reform, not released enough prisoners during the pandemic, and failed to rein in police abuses, advocates and prisoners say.
Rebecca McCray Nov 24, 2020
Progressive lawmakers and activists say Cuomo has failed to adequately protect those who are out of work, at risk of losing their homes, or living behind bars, where the virus has spread rapidly.
States like California, New York, and Arizona have relied on prisoners to continue working, with little pay and in precarious conditions, during the coronavirus pandemic.
Eliyahu Kamisher Oct 05, 2020
Coronavirus infections climb at the state’s only maximum-security facility for women, and those held there fear for their safety.
Lyra Walsh Fuchs May 18, 2020
The governor’s requirements for release are too narrow in light of the threat from COVID-19, they say.
Bryce Covert May 13, 2020
As COVID-19 spreads, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio are slashing budgets, but leaving funding for police and prisons largely untouched.
Ross Barkan Apr 30, 2020
Their proposals move beyond Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 90-day eviction moratorium and call for suspending or forgiving rent payments longer term.
Bryce Covert Apr 21, 2020
Local budget cuts enacted a decade ago left states and cities dangerously unprepared for COVID-19. We shouldn’t make those same mistakes again.
Nathan Tankus Apr 17, 2020
As infections and deaths mount, state leaders and law enforcement are turning to tough-on-crime tactics in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Jessica Pishko Apr 07, 2020
Powerful interests exploited Katrina to enrich themselves and transform the city. As a reporter who covered the fallout explains, our government’s lax oversight means the same could happen now, leaving those who most need help behind.
The state, which accounts for roughly one-third of all positive COVID-19 cases in the country, is facing a rapid spread of the disease in its jail and prison systems.
Bryce Covert Apr 06, 2020
The island’s Communicable Disease Unit is already overflowing with quarantined people.
Kim Kelly Mar 24, 2020
Andrew Cuomo, who recently announced the state would employ prisoners to make hand sanitizer, must prepare for the particular vulnerabilities of the state’s prison population to COVID-19, advocates say.
Bryce Covert Mar 11, 2020
Kyle C. Barry Feb 20, 2020
A year after Alfonzo Riley returned from prison, he’s helping to vet innocence claims.
Kira Lerner Feb 06, 2020
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal purports to take sexual violence seriously, but it aggressively ignores reality in favor of lazy solutions.
Guy Hamilton-Smith Jan 13, 2020
Cyrus Vance says he sent Governor Cuomo a letter about the issue in April 2018; Cuomo's office says it never got it. In the intervening months, critics say Vance's messaging on the issue discouraged survivors of rape from coming forward.
Meg O'Connor Dec 23, 2019
Recent violent arrests in the city subways should make New Yorkers question the push by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA to hire 500 new transit police.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem Nov 05, 2019
Court challenges and a sweeping reform bill are offering hope to men trapped in isolation for decades.
Joshua Manson Jun 03, 2019
Banishing people from the subway will only marginalize them without addressing the problem.
Guy Hamilton-Smith Apr 01, 2019
The miniseries depicting a New York prison escape fails to show what happened to the men left behind.
Katie Rose Quandt Jan 10, 2019
As Thursday's election approaches, confusion reigns.
Emma Whitford Sep 12, 2018
Jacqueline Smalls was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing a boyfriend whose ‘hands were his weapons.’ She now joins the ranks of criminalized survivors seeking clemency from Governor Cuomo.
Victoria Law Sep 05, 2018
From policing to parole, this election could be pivotal for reform.
Emma Whitford Aug 28, 2018
Experts say New York’s Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct is an important first step, but the problem isn’t just misconduct—it’s the way prosecutors wield their discretion every day.
Bolus is one of thousands of New Yorkers sentenced to life in prison who are waiting for the governor to keep his clemency promise.
Max Rivlin-Nadler Aug 06, 2018
New York's Democratic governor has granted only a trickle of commutations, fewer than many of his Democratic and Republican predecessors.
Victoria Law Jun 20, 2018