Tackling the Racism of the Criminal Legal System

Grantees are tackling issues of policing and incarceration in numerous ways—highlighting the devastating impact of mass incarceration on families and communities and creating community-led safety strategies.

Organizing to decarcerate, end Solitary and close Rikers

Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) has built one of the most effective coalitions in the country fighting unjust parole systems. Founded and led by formerly incarcerated people and their families, they’re working with allies, including Parole Prep Project, to demand changes to parole for thousands of people now sentenced to “death by incarceration.” RAPP also joins the Clemency Coalition of New York and Alliance of Families for Justice in advocating for clemency.

The Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC), led by New Yorkers who have experienced the cruelty of solitary confinement, won passage of the Halt Solitary Act. Now they’re working to ensure prisons and jails comply with the law.

Formerly incarcerated people are also pushing to replace the cruel, deadly, expensive mess at Rikers—one of the country’s most notorious jails—with systems that can prevent and repair harm. Grantees Freedom Agenda and Women’s Community Justice Association are advocating to close Rikers and “The Boat” (a barge jail) to free up funds for mental health services, drug treatment and employment.

Ending police violence and building safety

Among our longest-running grantees are the Justice Committee and Communities United for Police Reform, powerhouses that have been organizing against police abuses—and winning—for many years. And with 44% of Black children in NYC facing investigation by the family policing (“child welfare”) system, long-running grantees Just Making a Change for Families and Rise are now joined by BLU in organizing parents for change.

In the Hudson Valley, Hudson Link For Higher Education in Prison is providing life-altering educational opportunities for incarcerated people and community re-entry support. As part of the “Grow Food, Not Prisons” movement, Sweet Freedom Farm is getting food to incarcerated beloveds and their families and organizing against the 2023 ban of packages of food and educational materials.

Although the dominant narrative portrays the criminal legal and family policing systems as places to turn for “safety” and “justice,” for millions of New Yorkers they are systems of control. We’re supporting dozens of organizations that are taking on these harmful systems and building more effective approaches that bring people home to safer communities.