On April 16th, people across New York State will be joining together to raise awareness about New York’s broken parole system and to rally local support for the SAFE Parole Act (S.1128/A.4108).
Join Milk Not Jails, the New York Council of Churches and hundreds of prison families, criminal justice organizations, and faith communities to demonstrate broad support and magnify the voices of our loved ones who are behind bars.
From now until April 16th, please help us raise awareness by asking your local elected officials to sponsor this bill. If we get 60 more members of the Assembly to sponsor the bill as well as key upstate Republican Senators and Senators in the Bronx and Staten Island, we can change the law now! In many districts, all your elected officials might need is one meeting with someone directly impacted by New York’s broken parole system to become a supporter of this bill.
Here’s what we need you to do today: Send a letter to your State Assembly person and State Senator urging them to sponsor the SAFE Parole Act (S.1128/A.4108) today. Send a copy of your letter to us [email protected] so we can include it in our online and public gallery of support.
Find contact information for your Assembly person and Senator here. Download a sample letter.
Here’s what you can do on April 16th:
1. Meet with or call your local elected officials at their district office. Meeting them in person is the most effective way to gain their support, because you bring faces and names to this important struggle. Ask them to sponsor the SAFE Parole Act (S.1128/A.4108) today. If you are interested in going with a group of people, contact us at [email protected] and we can help you organize with your neighbors. If you cannot meet with your elected official in person, please call both their district and Albany offices on April 16th in solidarity with us. Get your local elected officials’ phone numbers here.
2. Ask your local church to “ring the bells for justice.” The New York State Council of Churches has called on churches across New York to ring their bells at noon and dedicate the day’s sermon on April 16th to demonstrate support for parole reform. Get your church involved! Download a sample sermon, bulletin insert and more details here. Join this action on Facebook. Tell you church to contact us at [email protected] or (917) 719-6455 if they’d like to be added to the list of participating churches.
3. Join us in the streets! Groups in Buffalo, Rochester, Ithaca, Bronx, Staten Island and Utica will be planning events and rallies on April 16th to demand SAFE Parole. Get details on all of these local events here. Contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to organize one in your own community!
