LONG ISLAND FAITH LEADERS & HOUSES OF WORSHIP FOR PAROLE JUSTICE

May 6, 2021

NY State Senator Todd Kaminsky
55 Front Street Room 1
Rockville Centre, NY 11570-4040

NY State Senator Kevin Thomas
990 Stewart Ave., Suite LL45A
Garden City, NY 11530

NY State Senator Anna Kaplan
1 Old Country Rd. Suite 270
Carle Place, NY 11514

NY State Senator Jim Gaughran

485 Underhill Blvd Suite 102

Syosset, NY 11791

NY State Senator John Brooks

5550 Merrick Road

Suite 205

Massapequa, NY 11758

Dear Members of the Long Island Democratic State Senate Delegation,

As people of conscience and faith, we members of the clergy on Long Island would like to alert

you to a growing moral and fiscal crisis in our prisons and jails which has done great harm to the

health and welfare of our communities.

Benjamin Smalls spent 20 years in prison and died at Green Haven Correctional Facility last year

at the age of 72, from the coronavirus. The “Elder Statesman”, as he was known by his peers,

and steward of the law library, he helped hundreds of men file appeals, request transfers or fight

restrictions on visitation; however, his appeals for clemency, pending since 2018, due to heart

issues and glaucoma, went unheeded by Governor Cuomo.

The coronavirus has swept through NY State prisons, leaving at least 30 dead, and thousands

infected, sick and unvaccinated, all without the protection of masks, social distancing or

sanitizers—illegal in prisons because of their alcohol content. The rate at which people died in

New York State prisons during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was 3.24 times higher

than before the pandemic.

Port Jefferson resident John Dukes, current prison reform activist with New Hour for Women &

Children LI, was one of the luckier ones—he was released from Sing Sing prison in 2018, at age

47, after serving 19.5 years of a 20 year - life sentence. He became a model prisoner, making his

first parole board, but he says, “In prison, we are molded into ‘criminals’ and discarded. Now we

are self-educated and can become the solution back in our communities, guiding young people

not to make the same mistakes we did.” Leonard Carter worked alongside John, advocating for

their peers, but he wasn’t so lucky. After 25 years served, he was a full-time worker by day,

returning to a minimum-security level facility at night. At 60 years old, he died from COVID-19

last April, six weeks before his parole release date.

The crisis of aging and dying in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community

Supervision has been ongoing for decades, fortified by a racist criminal justice system that

disproportionately imprisons and denies parole to people of color. It is a system grounded in

punishment and revenge, not rehabilitation and the opportunity for redemption. Nearly half the

people in New York prisons are Black (47.9%) yet they represent roughly 15% of the state’s

population. Comparatively, 24.1% of incarcerated New Yorkers are Latino and 24.7% are white.

There is a solution in the form of common sense, humane legislative prison reform bills before

our State Legislature.

1. Elder Parole (Hoylman)/(De La Rosa): will provide the opportunity for men and

women over the age of 55 who have served 15 consecutive years to have their cases

heard before the parole board for how they have assumed responsibility for their crimes

and turned their lives around for the good they now embody and practice. Because of

New York’s brutal sentencing laws, many aging people in prison are not yet eligible for

parole or have sentences that prevent them from seeing the Board of Parole before they

die in prison, regardless of their personal transformation while incarcerated. This bill

would allow elders in prison to appear for an individualized assessment of their case and

parole consideration, regardless of their original sentence. Overwhelming evidence

indicates that incarcerated people undergo meaningful and transformative change within

15 years of incarceration.

2. Fair and Timely Parole (Rivera)/(Weprin): will ensure that all persons are judged not

by the single worst mistake of their lives, but for the sum total of who they have become

since—the rehabilitation and achievements they’ve made as they have paid for their

crimes. The New York State Board of Parole denies release to the majority of

parole-eligible people. Their decisions are often based on one unchangeable factor—the

nature of the crime—despite a person’s accomplishments in prison, reentry plans and low

risk of recidivism. Had Elder Parole passed last session, Mr. Smalls would have had a

chance to live his exemplary life serving others within his community, instead of

languishing in prison and falling victim to a deadly disease in his cell.

On Long Island, we are advocating with Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) as one of the

more than 300 organizations supporting the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice, a grassroots

campaign determined to end mass incarceration and punitive punishment. We urge you to

co-sponsor the Fair and Timely Parole (S1415) and Elder Parole (S15A) Bills in the 2021

Legislative Session. If passed, this legislation will move us closer to the goal of curtailing the

racial bias in our justice system stemming from slavery and the resultant Jim Crow caste system,

and harsh, long prison sentencing.

In a famous Jewish bible commentary from the Midrash Rabbah, it says, “We learn that everyone

who welcomes an elderly person, it is as if they have welcomed in the Divine Presence.” In the

words of the lucky and redeemed, John Dukes, “We find G-d and become Angels”.

As people of faith, from diverse religions and practices across Long Island, we believe that each

of us is not inherently evil, nor are we enslaved to our most vile actions. We have the capacity to

transform ourselves through self-examination, the deep emotion of regret and through

atonement—acts of charity and good deeds. Every single person has worth and dignity, which

should be honored and shown mercy. As such, we are asking that you do what is morally right

and co-sponsor both the Fair and Timely Parole bill (S1415) and the Elder Parole bill (S15A) in

this 2021 legislative session.

Sincerely,

Undersigned Faith Organizations and Clergy Leaders:

Bethel A.M.E. Copiague

Episcopal Diocese of Long Island (Bishop’s Senior Staff)

New Life Christian Center of Hempstead

Islamic Center of Long Island

The Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore

Antioch Baptist Church of Hempstead

Bend The Arc Jewish Action Long Island

Destiny House Christian Center

Mount Sinai Baptist Church Cathedral

Masjid Dural Quran of Bay Shore

Long Island Area Council of Unitarian Universalist Congregations (Represents 11 U.U.

congregations across Long Island)

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork

Social Justice Action Committee, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock

Gods Open House For Everyone

North Country Reform Temple

Rabbi Judy Cohen-Rosenberg

Rabbi Stephen Karol

ABBA Leadership Center

Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood NY Office of Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation

North Shore Synagogue

Rabbi Jeffrey Clopper

Reverend Ben Bortin

Reverend Paul Carbone, Interfaith/Interspiritual Minister and Chaplain

First Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove

Temple Beth Israel

Rev. Kate Jones Calone, Setauket Presbyterian Church

Temple Isaiah of Great Neck

Rabbi Sharon Ballan

Long Island Council of Churches, Public Issues Committee

The House of Praise Christian Revival Center

Central Synagogue - Beth Emeth

Christian Light Baptist Church

Evangel Revival Community Church

Refuge Apostolic Church of Christ