Put People Before Prisons
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.