Mass Incarceration and the Need for Sentencing Reform
How can New York continue on a common sense, data-driven path away from the mass incarceration era?
Even as the State’s daily prison population has declined since its peak in the late 1990s, over 30,000 disproportionately Black and Brown New Yorkers are imprisoned today. On Thursday, May 2, 2024, Center for Community Alternatives and Data Collaborative for Justice brought together formerly incarcerated people and families with incarcerated loved ones, alongside policymakers, researchers, and experts, to reflect on legislative opportunities to advance justice and safety and address decades of draconian sentencing laws. Speakers considered strategies including the repeal of mandatory minimums, “second look” policies allowing judges to reconsider excessive sentences, and earned time programs that prioritize in-prison transformation rather than incarcerating people for as long as possible. Panelists placed New York in a national context, both historically and in the present day.
Ultimately, speakers provoked a conversation informed by lived experience, decades of research, and an appreciation of the fundamental and equal humanity of all people, including those languishing in State prisons today.
Speakers & Bios
Panel 1. Setting the Stage: Legislative Options & Implications for Impacted People
Ben Max | Executive Director and Program Director | Center for New York City Law, New York Law School (Moderator)
Hon. Julia Salazar | New York State Senator
Hon. Rowan Wilson | Chief Judge | New York State Unified Court System
Charisse Peace | Member Leader | Center for Community Alternatives
Patrick Stephens | Youth Services Leadership Fellow | Center for Community Alternatives
Steven Zeidman | Professor and Director of Criminal Defense Clinic | CUNY School of Law
Panel 2. From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Harnessing Prior Data & Lessons Learned
Christopher Watler | Executive Vice President | Center for Employment Opportunities (Moderator)
Leigh Bates | Deputy Commissioner | New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
Marta Nelson | Director of Sentencing Reform | Vera Institute of Justice
Andre Ward | Executive Director | Institute for Justice and Opportunity at John Jay College
Key Resources (More to be Added)
- PPT: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mandatory Prison Sentencing – Leigh Bates, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
- PPT: Sampling Sentencing Reforms Across the US and the Importance of Reforming Mandatory Minimums – Marta Nelson, Vera Institute for Justice
- A New Paradigm for Sentencing in the United States | Vera Institute
- When Incarceration Is Automatic: Mandatory Minimums and Race | Center for Justice Innovation
- Criminal Justice Solutions: Model State Legislation | Brennan Center for Justice
- Microsoft Word – DESIGNED_Bhati Public Safety Impact Brief Short Version.docx | Foleon.com
- New York State Justice Task Force Recommendations on Second Look Sentencing Reform (Office of Court Administration)
- Senate Bill S321 (Second Look Act) | The New York State Senate
- Summary of the Second Look Act | Center for Community Alternatives
- Senate Bill S774 (Earned Time Act) | The New York State Senate
- Summary of the Earned Time Act | Center for Community Alternatives
- Senate Bill S6471A (Eliminate Mandatory Minimum Sentences) | The New York State Senate
- Summary of the Eliminate Mandatory Minimums Act | Center for Community Alternatives