The NYS Coalition for Rehabilitation and Reentry has been a collaboration of more than 33 advocacy organizations, who met on September 25, 2007 to cooperate in the development of a common restorative justice platform for reform . We are now inviting you to participate in that collaboration.
a) (a) A summary of that 12-part Platform, and links to their full text are on Co_Platform.htm
b) (b) A Petition carrying endorsements of that platform is at www.ipetitions.com/petition/Co_RR
c) (c) Sample letters for each of the twelve planks of the platform can be found via Co_plea.htm
d) (d) A reprintable (pdf) copy of the Coalition Brochure is at www.bestweb.net/~cureny/Co_brochure.pdf
In the name of the Coalition, we are asking you, your associates, friends, and relatives to promote those goals of this platform which you endorse. In particular, you are now invited to do some or all of the following:
1.
1. Review the goals in the
Platform [item (a) above]. You will probably find that most, if not all,
of these goals have long
been your goals as well. Then
inform others of the Platform.
2. 2. Sign the Petition, and encourage others to sign the Petition, endorsing the Platform [item (b) above]
3.
3. Select, and encourage
others to select, favorite platform planks, and send supporting emails to
key legislators
[item (c ) above]
4.
4. Print and distribute
copies of the Coalition Brochure [item (d) above]
Sometime over the next six months, we will be calling for a “wave” of emails, from everyone, supporting one selected platform plank (each one in turn). That will demonstrate a collective support for that one plank. About every two weeks, a new “wave” will be launched for one of the twelve planks. On each such occasion, whoever signs the Petition [item (b) above], will be invited to participate in the “wave” action.
This is a unique opportunity for you, associates, friends and relatives, to join forces with many advocacy organizations for improvement in the NYS criminal justice system. Can we count on your participation?
Hundreds of millions of NYS dollars can be saved each year by the reforms in the
Platform that
provide greater justice - money that is desperately needed to offset budget cuts
in education, health, and the support of those greatest in need.
Find the addresses of key NY State Legislators
on the four Assembly and Senate Committees that are concerned with criminal
justice.
Write your State Legislators Now.
Copy your Governor. Ask your friends and relatives to do the same. Please do it now!
You can also send your message by email to some NY legislators. Send your message to:
To find the office address or an email address to communicate electronically to your own New York Assemblymember, just click:
To find out who your NY state senator is, or to find the office address or an email address to communicate electronically with your NY state senator, just click:
Dear Sir,
I urge you to return discretion to our judges instead of requiring mandatory sentences under the New York State Drug Laws. There is much injustice in the execution of these laws, which have resulted in the imprisonment of tens of thousands of low-level non-violent offenders. It is costing us over $600 million per year to warehouse over 22,000 prisoners under these laws. Many of these could have been less expensively and more fairly punished in community-based programs giving rehabilitative drug treatment.
Many offenders were not ‘principals’ in a narcotics transaction, but were only at the margins, such as steerers or couriers. In justice, all of these offenders needed more discretion in the determination of their sentence. Sentences must be made proportionate and individualized, taking into account the relevant factors in each case. Intermediate sanctions, community based punishment and drug-abuse treatment should be the presumptive choice for minor offenders.
Reform of these laws has been very strongly urged by many judges, lawyers, legislators, and public interest groups. The international Human Rights Watch found that these NYS laws caused sentences disproportionate to the offense, and were in violation of three international treaties and conventions. Mr. Joseph Califano, President of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) , recently added the CASA conclusion that imposing long mandatory sentences on addicted drug felons "makes no sense."
I therefore call upon you to publicly move now for reform of these bad laws.
Sincerely,
Your signature(s)
Dear Sir,
This to urge you to recognize the broad benefits to society of treating offenders for their alcohol and drug addictions, and educating them to earn a living wage without crime. Safer streets and lower cost are thus achievable.
The Califano Report from the Center for Addiction and Substance abuse at Columbia University confirms that some 80% of U.S. prisoners are linked to drugs or alcohol, only about 18% receive any treatment, and much of that is inadequate. That is scandalous.
Treatment does work. An Ohio study reports that drug treatment reduced criminal arrests from 60% to 19%. A recent RAND study concludes that treatment of heavy drug users is 15 to17 times more effective in reducing crime than spending the same money on mandatory minimum sentences. Another RAND study shows that spending money on treatment reduces the consumption of cocaine 7.6 times more than spending it on mandatory minimum sentences for drug dealers. Other studies show that every dollar spent on drug treatment saves $5.6 to7 dollars in costs for prisons, welfare, and other expenses.
I call upon you, therefore, to now take every necessary action to insure that every prisoner that needs it gets adequate addiction treatment, and that intermediate sanctions offering addiction treatment are used instead of prison for minor offenders.
Moreover, a related scandal is that 40% of prisoners can’t read, many with learning disabilities, and 70% have never completed high school. One half of NY State’s prisoners come from an area served by 11 of New York City’s poorest rated schools. Without an adequate education or vocational training, we cannot expect many of our released offenders to survive without crime. Good prison-based education and vocational training have been proven to reduce recidivism significantly.
Thus, it clearly pays to invest much more in prison-based treatment, education and training of offenders, instead of only warehousing people in dehumanizing prisons. Hundreds of millions of dollars can thus be saved each year through lower incarceration rates and less crime cost.
To increase justice, therefore, and at the same time reduce crime and cost, I call upon you to publicly move now for a shift in resources away from disproportionately long, punitive sentences towards effective drug treatment, education, and training of offenders.
Sincerely,
Your signature(s)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Sir,
This to urge your public recognition of the true value of Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI), and your support of its expansion. Community-based ATIs can be a variety of punishments, including such things as restitution, community service, day reporting, and home confinement with electronic monitoring, as well as mandatory addiction treatment and education. ATI is less expensive and ATI works!
For example, the Brooklyn DTAP program (diverting prison-bound offenders to residential drug treatment) reduced recidivism from 46% to 19%, while saving millions of dollars per year.
A Connecticut study showed that their Alternatives to Incarceration Program is 2 to 5 times more effective than imprisonment in reducing re-arrest rates of drug offenders as well as other types of offenders. Moreover, community-based ATI, rather than remote imprisonment is crucial to the preservation of families, whose breakup is the dominant root cause of many problems.
As our judges have been telling us, we have been needlessly filling our prisons with men and women who could be more effectively and more cheaply punished and restored in community settings. Funds for Alternatives to Incarceration should be substantially increased, and judges should be given greater discretion to use these expanded services.
Community corrections should also be used more extensively for the transitional reintegration period after release from prison and prior to release to the community. Studies, like those in Delaware, have shown that such transitions are key to much lower recidivism.
I therefore urge you to speak out now on this matter and to move in the legislature for substantially increased emphasis on Alternatives to Incarceration and Community Corrections instead of increased emphasis on imprisonment.
Sincerely,
Your signature(s)
Network. Discuss criminal justice issues with friends and relatives. Suggest that they visit this site. Send their names and addresses to cureny@idsi.net and request that copies of the CURE-NY Newsletter be sent to them.
Educate. Visit and/or call your state senator and assemblymember; candidates for election; print and television reporters who cover prison and public safety issues.
Be Prepared. Do your homework and have accurate facts and figures. Be brief and to the point.
Expect to be treated with dignity. Your concerns will be treated respectfully when you show patience, respect, and knowledge of the subject.
Personal Responsibility. Take responsibility by working for the dignity and benefit of the imprisoned, innocent victims, affected families, and the safety of the citizens of New York.
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