Friday, January 17, 2025
A rally was held in Hempstead on Dec. 4 to push for the passage of two bills statewide that would help imprisoned individuals seek justice through the parole system.
In a show of solidarity, the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice, a coalition of groups across New York state, brought local activists from surrounding Long Island communities to Fulton Avenue to urge passage of the Elder Parole bill and the Fair & Timely Parole bill.
The bills are designed to give those who are incarcerated opportunities for individualized parole consideration. The Elder Parole bill provides parole eligibility for adults over 55 who have served at least 15 years of their sentence, while the Fair & Timely Parole bill primarily focuses on ensuring that parole hearings are conducted in a timely manner for those in state prisons, according to the State Senate website.
A 2021 study by the Center for Justice at Columbia University estimated that enacting both bills could save the state $522 million annually due to the reduced prison costs once people are released.
The bills are co-sponsored by a number of senators, including Kevin Thomas of the 6th Senate District, encompassing Uniondale, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Baldwin and other surrounding communities.
William Bailey, senior director of the New York Communities for Change, or NYCC, Hempstead branch, joined 10 other advocates at the rally, voicing support for the Elder Parole bill because he’s “sick and tired of standing out here every year calling for our elders to be home.”
“They have now become mentors, they have now become leaders, they have now become role models, they have now become ministers,” he told the crowd who gathered at the rally. “These are people that can help our communities. These are seasoned veterans, seasoned mentors, people who have been there, done that.
“Who are you to tell them?” he added. “Who are you to decide that they cannot come home?”
NYCC, an advocacy group with branches throughout the state, including Hempstead, campaigns for a variety of social justice causes. The organization, founded in 2009 by New York ACORN, was instrumental in kicking off the Fight for $15 nationwide movement in 2012 to get a $15 minimum wage in New York, and pushed for the Green New Deal for New York City — a set of policies that address concerns of climate change — which was then passed in 2019, according to its website.
In addition, NYCC members won several anti-discrimination lawsuits that “expanded access to affordable housing and voting rights on Long Island,” according to the website, and parents backed by the group won several seats on the Hempstead school board after a comprehensive presentation in 2014 on how to improve the district.
The organization’s focus is now on the two parole bills, and other parole justice advocates and groups are mobilizing alongside the NYCC.
Caroline Hansen, a lead organizer for New Hour For Women and Children and a community leader with Release Aging People in Prison, said her husband, Kristian, “was sentenced to a death by incarceration at 19 years old.”
After 29 years of transformation, he has become a mentor, a college graduate and a trainer for explosive detection canines through the Puppies Behind Bars program, according to Hansen.
“If he is able to help the young people inside the prisons, imagine what he can do in our community,” she said. “Imagine how he can make our communities safer. Imagine what he can do here on Long Island. The possibilities are endless.
“We need him to come home, and we need him to come home now,” she implored.
The rally also highlighted the crucial role that formerly incarcerated individuals can play in enhancing public safety. Ismael Diaz, a community organizer with the Center for Community Alternatives, Brooklyn branch, said he has witnessed firsthand the men behind bars who have become mentors to him and to others, “and yet they still can’t come home.”
He emphasized the work done by formerly incarcerated individuals who are now mentors, violence interrupters and peer recovery counselors in their communities across the state. He said they exemplify that “promoting personal transformation, rather than endless punishment, is the key to improving safety for all.”
“We need to pass the Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole bills to reunite families, heal communities and bring home more mentors and leaders who are essential to our efforts to improve community safety,” Diaz said.
The bills were both introduced in January 2023 and are currently in their respective Senate committees.
