Andrew Cuomo

When Prisons Locked Down, Prisoners Were Denied Release

Leaving prison often hinges on completing rehabilitative programming. The pandemic caused many of these required courses to be put on hold.

Daniel Moritz-Rabson Jun 29, 2021

New York City Has People on Parole In Jails At Rates Not Seen Since The Early Pandemic

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

New York Moves A Step Closer To Decriminalizing Sex Work

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

New Jersey Could Force Cuomo’s Hand on Pot Legalization

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

Supreme Court’s Decision To Bar Restrictions On Religious Services In New York Is An Ominous Sign

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

Newly Elected Los Angeles DA Will End Cash Bail in Nation’s Largest Prosecutor Office

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

America’s Biggest City Was Hit Hard By COVID-19. Its Jails Are Filling Up Again

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

Families Urge Cuomo to Release Loved Ones from Prison During COVID-19 Pandemic

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.

Alana Sivin, Joshua Vaughn Nov 25, 2020

Andrew Cuomo Promised Criminal Justice Reforms, But New York Is Still Waiting

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

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Is Fresh Off His Book Tour, But Activists Say He Doesn’t Live Up to His National Reputation

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.

Tara Francis Chan, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Nov 19, 2020

Prison Labor Is on the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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

Isolation, Death, And Grief at a New York Women’s Prison

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

Advocates Push New York Governor for More Releases From Jails and Prisons

The governor’s requirements for release are too narrow in light of the threat from COVID-19, they say.

Bryce Covert May 13, 2020

The Carceral Kings of New York

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

New York Lawmakers Push for Real Rent Relief Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

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

Avoid Austerity To Prevent A State And Local Coronavirus Depression

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

Policing Coronavirus

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

Lessons from Hurricane Katrina For The COVID-19 Recovery To Come

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.

Gary Rivlin Apr 07, 2020

New York Retreats on Bail Reform Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

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

Coronavirus Has Come to Rikers, and the People Inside Are Fighting to Survive

The island’s Communicable Disease Unit is already overflowing with quarantined people.

Kim Kelly Mar 24, 2020

Pressure Builds on New York Governor To Address Coronavirus Impact on Prisoners

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

Can We Banish Our Way to Public Safety?

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. This month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to curb public lewdness, groping, and other unwanted touching on New York City’s public transit: a three-year […]

Kyle C. Barry Feb 20, 2020

Prosecutors Blame Discovery Reform Law For Overtime, Tax Hikes, And a Murder

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. When I was working as a public defender, I was once preparing a trial with another attorney in my office. Our client was facing felony charges, and […]

Sarah Lustbader Feb 11, 2020

Clemency Gave Him A Second Chance. He Won’t Forget His Friends Who Haven’t Been As Lucky

A year after Alfonzo Riley returned from prison, he’s helping to vet innocence claims.

Kira Lerner Feb 06, 2020

Why Keeping People With Sex Offense Convictions Off Social Media Sites Does Little To Make Those Sites Safer

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

More Hate Crime Laws Would Not Have Prevented The Monsey Hanukkah Attack

“Tens of thousands of people, some covered in Israeli flags and others singing Hebrew songs, poured into Lower Manhattan on Sunday in a show of solidarity for New York’s Jewish community in the wake of a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in the region in the last month,” reports the New York Times. “The most recent attack […]

Sarah Lustbader Jan 06, 2020

Manhattan D.A. Suggests He Nudged The Governor To Fix A Loophole In New York Rape Law. It’s A Bit More Complicated.

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

‘I Never Thought Selling Corn Could Lead To Being Torn From My Family’

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. In a video posted on Twitter on Friday, a small woman with a pushcart full of churros is surrounded by four NYPD officers inside the Broadway Junction […]

Sarah Lustbader Nov 12, 2019

New York Subway Police Make Us Less Safe

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

‘It Will Certainly Save Lives’: A Q&A About Medicaid Coverage For People Preparing For Re-entry

Federal policy denies incarcerated people Medicaid coverage, making re-entry a time of heightened health risks. Tracie Gardner of the Legal Action Center explains New York State’s effort to “break the cycle of justice-involvement, poor health, economic instability, and recidivism that plagues individuals and families throughout New York.”

Vaidya Gullapalli Sep 18, 2019