Advocates who have called for changes to New York’s criminal justice system are starting a new effort to overhaul how people are sentenced to prison.
They are seeking the approval of a trio of bills that, broadly, are meant to eliminate many mandatory minimum sentences, allow for resentencing in some instances and allow for earned time in prison to result in early release.
“The complete suite of bills, all three together, just completely change the way sentencing has operated in New York for the last half century,” said Jared Trujillo, the senior policy counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Sentencing law changes would be the latest package of changes to go through the state Capitol after efforts to overhaul the juvenile justice system were approved, as well as limits to the use of solitary confinement and evidence discovery.
“For individuals, it would fundamentally change what their lives look like,” Trujillo said. “For individuals, this is a fundamental sea change and it would change their lives. How radical is this? It’s not really radical at all.”
Advocates are also making the push in an Albany that, on paper, is fundamentally no different after Election Day. Democrats are retaining large majorities in the state Senate and Assembly; all statewide Democrats were re-elected.
But the proposals are also being made after a campaign season in which Republicans blasted Democrats over criminal justice law changes like ending cash bail for many criminal charges in addition to a range of provisions approved in recent years that were meant to create a fairer criminal justice system.
Changing sentencing laws would come more than a decade after the repeal of the Rockefeller-era drug laws in New York, which at the time were hailed as a tool of combatting the drug scourge, but have since been seen as ineffective.
“New York really tops the national charts in long sentences and sentences over 10 years, and that kind of excessive sentencing is what these bills seek to address,” said Katie Schaffer of the Center for Community Alternatives.
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