News and Updates
Find the latest statements, news articles, press, tweets, and more about the #HochulBringThemHome #ClemencyNow movement
Recent Clemency News and Updates on the Movement
“For so many of us, atop our wishlists this year isn’t a new gadget or a new kitchen set. We want a new beginning – for our loved ones, for our communities, which have been torn apart by mass incarceration, and for our state, which slumps under the tremendous financial and emotional burden of a system that leaves people to grow old and get sick behind bars.”
“It’s one of the few powers that the Governor has that they don’t need the legislature, they don’t need a commission, they don’t need a task force,” said Steve Zeidman, an attorney who has multiple pending clemency cases.
“They have the power to grant clemency in the constitution,” Zeidman said. “So from my perspective, use it. It should be an obligation.”
November 17, 2022: Gov. Hochul fails to fulfill clemency reform promise, advocates say
“‘The mood for many of the incarcerated people that I know personally, they were very happy,’ said Jose DiLenola, a formerly incarcerated man who is now leading the clemency campaign for Release Aging People in Prison, or RAPP. ‘They were hopeful.’
By his estimate more than 3,000 older New Yorkers are serving out long sentences and are at risk of dying behind bars.”
“She commuted one sentence in 11 months – that's hardly rolling and ongoing,” Zeidman said. “You set up a framework [for applications], there are people working hard and looking at applications and reaching out to people with pending applications, but the one thing that's missing is the most important thing, which is granting clemency.”
November 11, 2021: Zeldin Threat Passed, Criminal Justice Reformers Ready to Push Hochul
“‘From my perspective, an election should have no impact on whether someone merits clemency,’” said Steven Zeidman, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the CUNY School of Law. He hailed the added state staff set to review the thousands of pending cases but cautioned that it would make no difference unless Hochul took more aggressive action. ‘Is there going to be regular, ongoing, clemency?’ he added. ‘Until that happens that’s a disappointment.’”
"There are fully vetted, powerful, robust applications, hundreds on her desk, so if she wanted to do it, they’re there," said Steve Zeidman, co-director of the CUNY Law School’s Defenders Clinic Second Look Project. "We filed some going back four or five years that we supplement from time to time. It's not as if there aren't applications. It's just the will to do it."
For more recent news, visit RAPP’s website: rappcampaign.com/press
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