Register by this Friday (March 5) for Drop the Rock Advocacy Day on Tuesday, March 16, 2010.  On this day hundreds of New Yorkers will unite in Albany to call for criminal justice reforms including prison closures, full repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, and reinvestment in our communities.  Read about our downsizing campaign here.

Buses to Albany will leave from locations in New York City including downtown Brooklyn and Harlem.  Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided to all participants.

If your organization is interested in participating, contact Caitlin Dunklee, Drop the Rock Coordinator at 212-254-5700 or cdunklee@correctionalassociation.org.

A Nation of Jailers: Mass Incarceration and the Quality of American Democracy
Lecture and book-signing by Professor Glenn C. Loury, Ph.D. Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Brown University
Thursday, March 11, 2010
5:30–7:30 PM
Gerald W. Lynch Theater Lobby
899 Tenth Avenue
New York City
Read more…

In April 2009, the New York State Senate voted to significantly reform the notorious Rockefeller Drug Laws after years of advocacy on the part of families, formerly incarcerated people, and community organizations.

Drop the Rock is building on these advances by expanding its proposals for reform.  Our new campaign aims to reduce the harm that incarceration has on individuals, families and communities in New York  by decreasing the populations of people in prison and the bed capacity of the prison system.

• Check out our new Prison Downsizing Brochure 
• Help gather signatures on our new petition to Put People Before Prisons Petition

Here is an overview of Drop the Rock’s new platform:

• Repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws
  Though the reforms we helped to win earlier this year are significant, thousands of people will still go to prison for minor drug offenses every year.
• Increase Use of Work Release
  In 1994, over 27,000 people in prison participated in work release.  Today, fewer than 2,500 are enrolled.
• Decrease Rate of Reincarceration for Technical Parole Violations
  In 2008, over 9,000 people were sent to prison because they violated parole, not for committing a new crime.  This figure equals over 35% of commitments to prison in 2008.
• Increase Rate at Which People in Prison are Granted Parole
  Parole Board policy often denies individuals parole release due to the nature of their crime, no matter how positive their institutional record.  This practice delays the release of thousands of people every year.
• Expand Merit Time Eligibility
  Merit time, which allows a person in prison to earn time off of their sentence for completing programs, is not available to people convicted of violent offenses.  This policy delays release for thousands of people every year.
• Close Underutilized Prisons
  New York’s prison population has decreased by over 13,000 people in the past ten years.  Even after recent prison closures, there are still about 6,300 empty beds funded by taxpayers.  Closing these beds could save NY millions of dollars this year.
• Reinvest Savings into Alternative, Reentry, Prevention and In-Prison Programs
  Investment in communities is much more effective in improving public safety and the quality of people’s lives than incarceration.

Are you on Twitter?  Follow us @DroptheRock to help spread the word about our campaign!

Register now for Drop the Rock Advocacy Day on Tuesday, March 16, 2010.  On this day hundreds of New Yorkers will unite in Albany to call for criminal justice reforms including prison closures, full repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, and reinvestment in our communities.

Buses to Albany will leave from locations in New York City including downtown Brooklyn and Harlem.  Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided to all participants.

If your organization is interested in participating, contact Caitlin Dunklee, Drop the Rock Coordinator at 212-254-5700 or cdunklee@correctionalassociation.org.

Statewide Campaign Promotes Prison Closures and Community Reinvestment

NEW YORK – On Saturday, December 19, in neighborhoods across the city and state that are heavily impacted by incarceration, teams of community members, young people, formerly incarcerated people, and families will come together to educate the public about Drop the Rock’s campaign to reduce the use of incarceration in New York. Volunteers will register voters and gather signatures on Drop the Rock’s new petition calling for prison closures, reforms of work release, parole, and merit time, full repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, and reinvestment in communities. 

Read more…

Earlier this year, New York State voted to reform the notorious Rockefeller drug laws after years of advocacy on the part of families, formerly incarcerated individuals, and community organizations.  While we continue to call for full repeals of the laws, Drop the Rock has embarked on a new campaign to reduce New York State’s use of prisons, and we are looking for support from your organization, church group, business, or school club.

To sign on to our coalition’s expanded platform, contact Caitlin Dunklee directly at 212-254-5700 x 339 or cdunklee@correctionalassociation.org.

On Saturday, December 19 from 11am-3pm, in neighborhoods across the city and state, teams of volunteers will go out into their communities to educate the public about Drop the Rock’s campaign to reduce incarceration in New York.
Teams will register voters and gather signatures on Drop the Rock’s new petition calling for prison closures, reforms of policies like work release, parole, and merit time, full repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, and reinvestment in communities.  Volunteers will be petitioning in supermarkets, public housing lobbies, and street corners.

Download this flyer to spread the word about Empowerment Day in your community.

Help us kick off our new campaign in your neighborhood!  To get involved please contact Caitlin Dunklee directly at 212-254-5700 x 339 or cdunklee@correctionalassociation.org.

Read more…

Today’s Newsday featured an Op-Ed penned by Bob Gangi, Executive Director of the Correctional Association.  It is a great introduction to our coalition’s new expanded platform.

Ease state budget woes by closing more prisons
November 13, 2009 By ROBERT GANGI 

Gov. David A. Paterson has proposed severe spending reductions to close New York’s projected $3 billion deficit for this fiscal year. Aid for public schools, Medicaid and other health and mental health programs, libraries, summer special education programs, and HIV-AIDS services are poised to take big hits.

Another place in the state’s budget is primed for cutting: prisons.

Read more…