Bronx families and advocates rally for parole justice
BY BRONX TIMES
Racism infects the parole release
system in the Bronx just as it does
every element of the criminal justice
system.
A white person in a New York
prison is on average signifi cantly
more likely to be released on parole
than a Black or Latinx person and
the disparity widened in 2020, according
to a Times Union analysis of the
nearly 19,000 parole board decisions
over the last two years.
Recognizing how mass incarceration
affects the Bronx, elected offi -
cials, advocates and residents held a
rally in Baychester on April 20, demanding
state lawmakers pass the
People’s Campaign for Parole Justice
platform, which includes Elder Parole
and Fair & Timely Parole.
“Hey hey! Ho ho! Time to let our elders
go.” #ParoleJusticeNY pic.twitter.
com/7UpZ4mvDFw
— Release Aging People in Prison
Campaign (@RAPPcampaign) April
20, 2021
The People’s Campaign for Parole
Justice is a statewide, grassroots
campaign pushing for parole reform
in New York. The campaign is supported
by nearly 300 organizations
across New York and led by a coalition
of the social justice and criminal
justice groups, including the Release
Aging People in Prison Campaign
(RAPP).
“My husband has been in prison
for 22 years,” said RAPP community
leader and Bronx resident Janette Colon.
“He went in as a juvenile. He’s in
college. He’s a paralegal. But I still
worry about him not having hope for
his fi rst Parole Board because everyone
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 24 PR. 30-MAY 6, 2021 BTR
gets denied the fi rst time. I’m here
because I believe that Fair & Timely
Parole will give incarcerated people
an opportunity to show who they are
today. People are not the sum of their
worst mistakes. We as God’s children
are calling on Speaker Carl Heastie
to take action today.”
All fi ve State Senators representing
parts of the Bronx, Senators Jamaal
Bailey, Gustavo Rivera, Jose
Serrano, Luis Sepúlveda and Alessandra
Biaggi co-sponsor both Elder
Parole and Fair & Timely Parole.
The People’s Campaign for Parole
Justice is calling on lawmakers in
Albany to pass two bills that will address
this pandemic behind bars and
prevent similar tragedies in the future:
Elder Parole would allow the State
Board of Parole to provide an evaluation
for potential parole release to
incarcerated people aged 55 and older
who have already served 15 or more
years, including some of the state’s
oldest and sickest incarcerated people.
Fair and Timely Parole would provide
more meaningful parole reviews
for incarcerated people who are already
parole eligible.
The campaign is also calling on
Governor Cuomo to fully staff the
Parole Board with 19 commissioners
who come from communities that
have been directly affected by mass
incarceration and who have professional
and clinical backgrounds in
areas such as social work, nursing,
reentry services and other fi elds that
allow them to evaluate incarcerated
people for who they are today. The
board currently has three vacancies.
Residents a rally in the east Bronx demanding parole justice. Photos courtesy of RAPP