ALBANY, N.Y., June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TOMORROW, Tuesday, June 8th, at 10:00 AM ET the #LessIsMoreNY Coalition – made up of people directly impacted by parole and mass incarceration, nearly 300 community, faith, and advocacy groups, eight District Attorneys, and a bipartisan group of elected Sheriffs – will hold a virtual press conference with bill sponsors State Senator Brian Benjamin and Assemblymember Phara Souffrant-Forrest, urging lawmakers to pass urgently needed parole reform before New York’s legislative session ends on Thursday.
With the close of the legislative session just days away, criminal justice reform and racial justice remain top priorities for communities impacted by decades of mass criminalization, mass incarceration and systemic racism. Parole supervision, and the resulting incarceration of thousands of people for non-criminal technical parole violations, disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx people, families and communities. In New York City, Black people are reincarcerated for technical parole violations at 12 times the rate of white people, and Black people statewide are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated for a technical parole violation.
Speakers will explain the devastating consequences of being incarcerated for a technical parole violation – like missing a curfew, or being late for a parole appointment – and discuss how the #LessIsMoreNY Act S.1144 (Benjamin) / A.5576 (Forrest) will fix these problems.
WHAT: #LessIsMoreNY Parole Reform Virtual Press Conference
WHEN: TOMORROW, Tuesday, June 8th at 10:00 AM ET
WHERE: Via Zoom: Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcuc-6spjgrHNPHhpevkedy2S6EfsrzQe8e
WHO: #LessIsMoreNY Coalition including people directly impacted by parole, Bill Sponsors Senator Brian Benjamin, Assemblymember Phara Souffrant-Forrest
About Less Is More:
The Less Is More Act would have an immediate impact on the more than 35,000 people on parole supervision in New York. The bill restricts the use of incarceration for most technical violations, bolsters due process, provides speedy hearings, and provides an earned time credit for those on parole.
Parole supervision, and the resulting incarceration of people for technical parole violations, disproportionately impacts Black people, families and communities. Parole in New York is wrought with racial disparity: In New York City, Black people and Latinx people are 12x and 4x more likely to be incarcerated for a technical parole violation. In New York State, Black people are incarcerated for technical violations of parole at 5x the rate of whites, and Latinx people are 30 percent more likely than whites to be reincarcerated for technical parole violations.
The Less is More bill, S.1144 (Benjamin) / A.5576 (Forrest), will transform the parole process in New York to focus resources on helping people get back to life after prison by limiting the incarceration of people for technical parole violation and by incentivizing rehabilitation through successful completion of parole. The reforms in the Less Is More Act are supported by over 280 community advocacy groups, 8 District Attorneys from the counties of Albany, Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Nassau, Tompkins, Ulster, & Westchester, and law enforcement leaders from across New York including the Albany, Erie, and Tompkins County Sheriffs. A full list of supporters and more information on the Less Is More Act can be found at www.lessismoreny.org.
Contact: Sumeet Sharma - 646-591-9483 - sumeet@katalcenter.org
Follow online: #LessIsMoreNY | www.lessismoreny.org