LEGAL ACTION CENTER

New York State Criminal Justice Policy Advocacy

About our Programs | Current Projects | Highlights | Accomplishments

For three decades the Legal Action Center (LAC) has advocated for smarter, more effective criminal justice policies, including sentencing reform and expansion of alternatives to incarceration (ATI) and related programs, probation, and alcohol and drug treatment and prevention. The Center works closely with key New York State and City policy makers, including the Governor’s office, State Legislature, Mayor’s Office and City Council, as well as many other advocates and service providers.

Highlights

Reforming the Rockefeller-Era Drug Laws

LAC plays a leading role in advocating for reform of the Rockefeller-era Drug Laws. We work closely with government officials, advocates and concerned citizens to promote criminal justice and drug policies that have proven effective in reducing the demand for drugs and decreasing recidivism (offenders returning to crime and often to jail). During 2002, we developed and circulated a number of recommendations for reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws that were designed to bridge the differences among the various bills proposed by the Governor, Legislature, and advocates. Our work has included:

Releasing a report, Cost Savings that Would Arise to New York Under the Assembly’s Drug Law Reform Bill (A7080 of 2003) in March 2003, that found that New York would save over $164 million if the Assembly’s drug law reform legislation was enacted.
Releasing a report in April, 2002 entitled Drug Law Reform: Dramatic Cost Savings for New York State that calculated that for each second-felony offender diverted from prison to community-based addiction treatment, New York could save between $30,666 and $74,243.
Releasing a ground-breaking report, Drug Law Reform: How Dramatic the Impact? in April 2001, that revealed the significant disparity in the numbers of individuals who would be eligible for judicial diversion under bills proposed by the Governor, Assembly Majority and various reform groups. The report garnered editorial support and widespread media coverage. The Governor and Assembly majority have since released new proposals.
Commissioning a poll in April 2002 on key Rockefeller Drug Law reform issues that found widespread public support for reform in all parts of the State. The poll showed that large majorities support giving judges discretion to send people who are addicted and sell small amounts of drugs to support that addiction into treatment instead of prison, even if they have been convicted of a previous felony. (Under the states current Second Felony Offender Law, judges are mandated to send these individuals to prison.)

To download these and other documents, visit the Publications section of this web site.

To download the poll and press release and to contact your local officials, visit the Alerts section of this web site.

Promoting a Fair and Effective Criminal Justice System

LAC plays a leading role in New York State by working with ATI, probation, and other criminal justice agencies to advocate for the continued use and expansion of intermediate sanction programs for appropriate offenders in New York State. These programs supervise and serve people in the criminal justice system and assist them in making a successful transition back to the community. They divert many appropriate offenders from prison to community sanctions and offer a continuum of services aimed at addressing the needs of offenders through intensive case management, job development and retention services, alcoholism and substance abuse treatment, parenting skills and reunification assistance, housing and health referrals, and other valuable supportive services.

LAC played a leading role in developing the "Blueprint for Criminal Justice Reform in New York: Bringing Justice to Scale," a comprehensive plan for improving New York's criminal justice system with a particular focus on community corrections, sentencing reform and reentry. The Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform developed the Blueprint after thorough consultation with a wide range of stakeholders around the State and after a broad review of relevant research, articles and books. The Blueprint is based on the fundamental principles that reform must be bipartisan; a coherent vision and comprehensive plan will increase public safety, reduce criminal justice costs and strengthen affected communities; and sentences must be rational, proportionate and fair. The Blueprint focuses on sentencing reform and expansion of community corrections and community- and family-focused reentry, because these are three policy reforms New York can implement that research has shown will further reduce crime, cut costs, help people, and build communities.

To download a copy of this document, visit the Publications section of this web site.

Budget Advocacy

It is critically important for New York to maintain funding for ATI, probation, and other criminal justice agencies that have played a significant part in achieving the lowest crime rates in generations.

LAC coordinates the public policy advocacy of a wide range of criminal justice agencies across New York State. The final 2005-2006 New York State Budget contained good news for those concerned about maintaining and strengthening community corrections, pretrial and reentry services, and other components of the criminal justice system that are integral to protecting public safety and rebuilding lives, families and communities.

The Governor's Executive Budget maintained funding for ATI, probation and other criminal justice agencies at the same levels as last year. The Executive Budget also proposed merging the Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives (DPCA) into the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and shifting the funding for the highly successful and first-in-the-nation DPCA project to assist people on probation and in ATI agencies to obtain employment from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to General Fund.

The State Legislature moved the DPCA employment initiative back to TANF funding and added $200,000 to bring the funding back to the $4 million level where it had been last year, and the Assembly renewed a $240,000 add for ATI programs that it has funded for a number of years. The Legislature rejected the proposed DPCA/DCJS merger.

We very much appreciate the bi-partisan support demonstrated by the Governor, Assembly and Senate.

LAC is again coordinating a steady presence of ATI advocates, providers and clients for advocacy on the 2004-2005 City budget. The Mayor's executive budget, introduced two weeks ago, reflected an improved local economy and higher than expected tax receipts. We hope that this might be the year for an increase in City support for ATIs, including restoring the 20% cut imposed after 9/11.

Tracie Gardner, LAC Director of New York State Policy, testified on behalf of the AIDS Advisory Council on HIV and Hepatitis C issues and their impact on corrections and community health at a recent hearing on the quality of health care in state prisons. Convened by the Assembly Health and Corrections Committees, this is the third hearing that is examining the state of health care in the New York corrections system and exploring the feasibility of two bills that would make prison health facilities subject to regulation under Article 28 of the Public Health Law and empower the Department of Health to review HIV and Hepatitis C polices and practices in state prisons and local jails.

LAC played a leading role in advocating for maintaining funding for these programs by explaining to policy makers and the public their value in reducing crime rates, increasing public safety, and maximizing savings to taxpayers. Every year we do this by:

Drafting position papers on why funding should be sustained and expanded for ATI, probation and other community corrections programs.
Meeting regularly with key executive and legislative staff, service providers, and other advocates to discuss key budget issues, including the importance of continued state funding and identification of other possible resources.
Educate policymakers about the critical role of community correction programs by compiling program specific information demonstrating the disruptive impact of budget cuts on services provided by ATI and public safety programs.

Helping People With Criminal Records Successfully Re-enter Society

ATI, Probation & Welfare Initiative: After helping to develop New York State's innovative program to move appropriate offenders in ATI and probation programs from welfare to work, LAC has provided on-going advocacy and technical assistance to support that initiative's continuing success.
Transitional Medicaid: LAC is working with New York State and City to make it easier for individuals exiting prison or other parts of the criminal justice system to obtain medical care and other services that will improve their chances of successful re-entry. Currently most individuals leaving jail or prison cannot apply for Medicaid until after their release. Because an application to receive Medicaid can take several weeks to approve, many people do not have access to medical care for a significant period of time. This gap in services not only endangers their health, it also can lead to an increased risk of relapse and return to criminal activity. In addition, the State loses federal Medicaid dollars, because without coverage, many of these individuals go to public hospitals, clinics and other facilities seeking uncompensated care when they are sicker and more expensive to treat. LAC advocates for enforcement of a ruling by the federal government that persons who were on Medicaid before being incarcerated must be reinstated upon their release.
Improving Community and Post Release Supervision and Reintegration of Former Prisoners: Many parole and probation officers do not have the information or resources they need to provide effective assistance to the individuals they supervise. LAC is working with New York State and City to identify improved practices that would maximize the likelihood that people in the criminal justice system re-enter society successfully.
Legal Barriers: We are proud to announce the release of After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry, the first-ever comprehensive compilation of data from the 50 states about legal barriers facing people with criminal records, including state barriers in the areas of employment, public assistance & food stamps, access to records for non-criminal justice purposes, voting, drivers’ license privileges, foster and adoptive parental rights, and public housing. Click here for the full report.

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Accomplishments

LAC has led state-wide advocacy efforts that resulted in the maintenance and addition of tens of millions of dollars for ATI, probation, and other effective criminal justice programs.
LAC worked with the Legislature to amend the Rockefeller-era Drug Laws in 1979 to remove the most draconian sentences, including a minimum 3 to life sentence for sale of any amount of heroin or cocaine.
LAC worked with Governor George Pataki's then Criminal Justice Director, Katherine Lapp, the Division of the Budget, other executive staff members, and the Assembly and Senate in 1999 to create a new initiative using federal Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) funds to enhance job training and placement services for participants in ATI programs and probation agencies. This program, still the only one of its kind in the nation, now allocates $4 million annually to achieve the dual benefit of moving appropriate offenders from welfare to work and reducing crime (since former offenders who are employed are far less likely to return to crime).
LAC drafted the provision in New York State's managed care law requiring managed care organizations to honor and pay for assessments of individuals for alcohol or drug problems when a court has ordered the assessment.
LAC drafted legislation to automatically seal arrests that did not lead to conviction, thereby protecting the rights of many thousands of people arrested but not convicted and saving many thousands of hours and dollars in court staff time. (Sealing means removing information about the arrest from criminal history records available to employers and others.)

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