NCJ Number
97608
Date Published
1984
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This pamphlet underscores the need for solutions to dangerous overcrowding in New York State's prisons and describes four bills that would relieve overcrowding if enacted.
Abstract
New York's prison system is operating at 118-percent capacity. This crisis has been underscored by recent disturbances at Sing Sing, Clinton, and Attica prisons. The State's response has been prison construction, but this does not solve short-term problems nor address the policies that created overcrowding. The proposed Stand-by Release Act would provide for the release of carefully screened inmates when overcrowding threatens the safety of inmates and prison staff. The Parole Reform Act would curtail the discretion vested in the Parole Board and introduce more consistency, objectivity, and predictability into the parole process. Another bill would amend the 1973 Second Felony Offender Law to no longer require mandatory prison terms for repeat offenders convicted of the least serious felonies. Prisoners in New York receive both a minimum and maximum sentence, and good time credits may be applied only to the maximum sentence. Proposed revisions in the law would allow inmates to earn good time off the minimum sentence. The pamphlet estimates the dollar savings from implementing this legislation.