Above photo: By Richard Perry/The New York Times.
This new paper highlights ways in which the harmful impacts of parole policies disproportionately fall on Black and brown communities in New York. The report also summarizes existing research on disparities in parole supervision practices nationally. The authors conclude that there is significant existing momentum toward reform in these areas, and that New York should take legislative action to reform parole practices while there is a window of opportunity to do so. Read the paper HERE.
The scope and conditions of parole supervision in New York have profound impacts for people serving supervision sentences. New York sends more people back to prison for non-criminal, technical parole violations than any state except Illinois, and people detained for alleged non-criminal parole rule violations comprise the only population growing in New York City jails, threatening plans to close the notorious Rikers Island jails complex.
Racial Inequities in New York Parole Supervision
This report highlights ways in which these harmful impacts disproportionately fall on Black and brown communities. The authors find that Black and Latinx people are significantly more likely than white people to be under supervision, to be jailed pending a violation hearing, and to be incarcerated in New York State prisons for a parole violation. The report also summarizes existing research on disparities in parole supervision practices nationally.
The authors recommend that New York address points of racial and ethnic disparity through policy change – namely, by shortening parole supervision periods, curbing the use of jail detention for people awaiting adjudication of alleged parole violations, and limiting the possibility of incarceration for technical violations. They conclude that there is significant existing momentum toward reform in these areas, and that New York should take legislative action to reform parole practices while there is a window of opportunity to do so.
“Technical parole violations fall most heavily on people of color, their families and communities,” says Vincent Schiraldi, report co-author, co-director of the Columbia Justice Lab and former New York City Probation Commissioner. “The alarming racial disparities in our report should serve as a clarion call for state policymakers to act this year to redress this unacceptable situation.”
“The risk of reincarceration for a violation threatens not only the person under parole supervision, but also their family,” says report co-author and director of the Justice Lab’s Probation and Parole Reform Project Kendra Bradner. “A father may be unable to accept a well-paying night job or take a sick child to the emergency room if it conflicts with his parole curfew. A mother may face homelessness because parole terms do not permit her to live with family members who have a criminal record or who live in public housing. These situations further complicate an already-difficult process of reentering society, and exacerbate systemic racial inequities.”