Protect the Rights of Incarcerated and Detained New Yorkers

The message:

Imagine being unable to afford basic hygiene items. Think about what it would feel like to travel for hours to see your loved one, only to be turned away because you happen to be on your period. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is shackled while they give birth.

Incarcerated New Yorkers and their families confront these kinds of injustices every day.

They deserve fair and humane treatment.

Last session, lawmakers passed five bills that will improve the lives of the tens of thousands of people impacted by our criminal legal system. Governor Hochul must sign them without delay.

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Tell the governor to protect the rights of people impacted by the criminal legal system

The recipients:

Governor Kathy Hochul

Collage of hands resting on prison bars, prison scanner, prison tower

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Subject Help Create Safer Prisons and Safer Communities

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There are over 50,000 incarcerated people in New York State, and their experiences in jail or prison extend beyond the confines of their cells to impact their families and our communities. Humane and rehabilitative treatment improves incarcerated people’s mental health, helps families stay together, and makes our communities safer by reducing recidivism.

Last session, lawmakers passed five bills that will improve the lives of the tens of thousands of people impacted by our criminal legal system. I urge you to sign these bills without delay.

• Tampons Are Not Contraband

An untold number of New Yorkers have been barred from visiting their incarcerated loved ones because corrections officers wrongfully identified menstrual products that showed up during body scans as contraband. Lawmakers passed the Tampons Aren’t Contraband Act (S.8353A/A.8840A), which allows people to visit while using menstrual products or contraceptive devices.

• Facilitating Critical Visits

Not only do in-person visits improve mental health and help families stay together, but they also make it less likely someone will be arrested after they are released from prison. The Protect In-Person Visits bill (S.5037A/ A.4603A) prevents prisons and jails from replacing in-person visits with video calls and requires weekend or evening visiting hours to support working families and school-aged children.

• Cracking Down on Inflated Commissary Prices

Prison commissaries are a lifeline for people in prison who have few other options for buying critical goods. But low wages and inflated prices create hardship for incarcerated people and the family members who support them. A bill (S.1692B/A.2592B) passed by the legislature would limit the cost of commissary items.

• Stop Shackling Pregnant and Postpartum New Yorkers

Our state has restricted the use of shackles on pregnant and postpartum New Yorkers in jails and prisons. A bill (S.2667C/A.1670B) passed by the legislature would extend this crucial protection to other custodial settings – including courthouses, police stations, and hospitals. It would also prohibit unnecessary force against pregnant and postpartum people in prisons and jails.

• Reducing the Harm of Mandatory Minimums

Mandatory minimum sentences – which tie a judge’s hands by requiring a minimum sentence that usually means some amount of prison time – have created a host of problems. They lead to wrongful convictions and forced guilty pleas, fueling mass incarceration. The Guilty Pleas bill (S.8944/A.10024) would reduce New York’s reliance on mandatory minimums and help create a fairer legal system.

I’m counting on you to stand up for the rights of everyone impacted by the criminal legal system by signing all of these bills without delay.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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Protect the Rights of Incarcerated and Detained New Yorkers

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