GIVEN OUR CONTROVERSIAL AGENDA INCLUDING HARSH CRITICISM OF NYPD PRACTICES, WE RELY ON THE GENEROSITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO SUPPORT OUR WORK. PLEASE MAKE A TAX-EXEMPT GIFT TODAY!
Dear Friends:
We at PROP just issued a statement to the press sharply criticizing Gov. Hochul's regressive criminal legal proposals. We slammed them as politically cynical, electorally expedient, & certain to worsen the system's already stark racial bias. Here, below, is our statement in full:
"GOV.HOCHUL'S REGRESSIVE CRIMINAL LEGAL PROPOSALS
Representing political choices made during an election year, Governor Kathy Hochul's recent criminal legal proposals--further rolling back bail & discovery reforms & trying 16 & 17 year old children in adult courts--will do nothing to improve public safety while increasing the ways our so-called justice system targets & punishes Black & Brown NYers. The governor's timing for the announcement is particularly cynical since she plans to have her proposals included as part of the NYS budget which by law has to be approved by the state legislature by April 1st.
Despite claims by new NYC mayor Eric Adams, right-wing Republican candidates for governor like Lee Zeldin, & even disgraced former governor Andrerw Cuomo, no objective evidence exists that such get tough policies lead to reductions in criminal activity. Conversely, no convincing case can be made that NY's recent bail or discovery reforms have resulted in crime increases -- reported crime rates have risen all across the US regardless of any policies, reform or otherwise, that localities have enacted.
Moreover, as reported by The Bronx Defenders: "Over 99% of people on pretrial release in our city are not rearrested for a violent felony in any given month -- a rate that has remained constant before & after bail reform".
What is certain, however, is that if Hochul's plans become new law, they will significantly intensify the stark racial bias that already mars our law enforcement practices -- for two examples, 90% of NYers locked on Rikers Island are people of color & Black NYers, 25% of the city's population, make up 53% of NYPD felony arrests.
Governor Hochul has made the egregious mistake of allowing political expediency to influence her policy making choices. It is a dramatic example of the failure of a government leader to do the right thing especially on behalf of the most powerless people in her constituency. Perversely, in this case, the humans who will pay the terrible price of her mistake are the low-income Latino & African-Americans, both youths & adults, who live in her state & who are most in need of support & protection from the government she currently leads.
We call on the Democratic Party legislative leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Seantor Michael Gianaris who were primarily responsible for enacting the reforms in 2019 to hold the line, to maintain their principled positions, & to reject Hochul’s cynical electoral tactic."
We encourage you to contact the same legislative leaders mentioned above, particularly Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie & Majority Leader of the Senate Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to urge them to reject Hochul's wrong & wrong-headed proposals. It will also help politically to communicate a similarly urgent message to your local Senate & Assembly representatives. It is important for us to protect the most politically vulnerable people among us from the cheap shots some officials take to advance their ambitions at the expense of justice & people's well-being.
Please feel free to be in touch with us if you have questions or comments about any of these issues.
As always, many thanks for your interest & support.
Onward,
Robert Gangi
Director, Police Reform Organizing Project
168 West 86th Street, 4b
NYC, NY 10024
917-327-7648-c
rpagangi@gmail.com
Luke Messina
Associate Director
luke@propnyc.org
You may also contribute to PROP by making out a check to Police Reform Organizing Project and sending it to: 168 West 86th St. #4B NYC, NY 10024
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