The Center for Justice partnered with Union Theological Seminary, Center for Community Alternatives, and Pillars of Promise on March 27 for an in depth discussion about pending Second Look Act legislation.
Over the past 50 years, New York’s laws have resulted in increasingly harsh sentences — with little to no opportunity for sentencing judges to review and reconsider individual cases. Second Look Legislation will allow incarcerated people to petition a judge for a sentence reduction based on evidence of rehabilitation and the interests of justice. It would grant New Yorkers the opportunity to return to their families and rebuild their lives and their communities.
The Second Look Symposium panel included people directly impacted by incarceration, an attorney fighting for clemency and resentencing, a Columbai professor, and a former Corrections staff member.
The discussion featured a report by researchers at the Center for Justice at Columbia University along with the insight of key legislators, partners and system impacted individuals. The panel also explored the impact of similar legislation that has allowed for a second look, like the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act that allows judges to sentence survivors to shorter prison terms and, in some cases, community-based alternative-to-incarceration programs, and provides survivors currently in prison the opportunity to apply for resentencing.
Attendees also heard from the father of Robert Brooks, who was recently murdered at Marcy Correctional Facility, who shared about the impact of what could happen if we don't pass legislation that will give people a chance to be free and hold people accountable to what happens inside New York State prisons.
