Rapp Campaign Statement on the Start of the NY Legislative Session

José Saldaña, Director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign (RAPP) and a survivor of 38 years in New York State prisons, issued the following statement ahead of the 2025 New York State Legislative Session:

“If lawmakers are serious about delivering more safety, fairness, and opportunity for their constituents, enacting parole reforms must be a top priority. Civil rights leaders, crime survivor advocates, district attorneys, public defenders, and a majority of state legislators all support the Fair & Timely Parole and Elder Parole bills because they provide common-sense solutions to reform the parole system. These reforms prioritize safety and personal transformation over vengeance and perpetual punishment.

Creating meaningful pathways to release consideration for rehabilitated individuals will reunite families, alleviate intergenerational economic strain, and allow community safety leaders—such as anti-violence advocates, youth mentors, and peer counselors—to return home and serve their communities. Moreover, these reforms would save the state an estimated $522 million annually, which could be reinvested to address critical community needs.

Especially in the wake of the brutal killing of Robert Brooks by a racist mob of prison guards and revelations of systemic racism and brutality within the prison system, lawmakers must act immediately to address this crisis of injustice.”

Racial Disparities in Parole Release Rates In 2016, the New York Times reported stark racial disparities in parole release rates. By 2020, the Times Union found these disparities had worsened.

In November 2024, the NYU Center on Race, Inequality & the Law revealed that racial disparities in parole release rates were the highest on record. The report showed that since Governor Kathy Hochul took office in 2021, 1,338 more parole-eligible Black and Brown individuals would have been released if they had been granted parole at the same rate as their white counterparts.

Research Supporting Reform

A study in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology concluded that New York’s Parole Board could double release rates without increasing felony arrest rates while eliminating racial disparities. Support from Advocates and Organizations.

Prominent advocates, including Dr. Hazel Dukes and Rev. Al Sharpton, call for the passage of these bills. Crime victim advocacy groups and public defense organizations endorse these reforms.