Exciting news! The Earned Time Act has passed out of the Senate Corrections Committee. This is a big development in advancing our legislation towards passage this year.
Two asks for everyone!
POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Please post on social media to lift up the passage! Attached is a graphic you can use and below are template posts.
CALL ASSEMBLY CORRECTIONS CHAIR: Second, will folks call Assembly Member Erik Dilan who chairs the Corrections Committee on the Assembly side? Now that the bill has passed out of Senate Corrections, we need to push him to move it in the Assembly. His Albany phone number is: 518-455-5821 and his district office phone number is: 718-386-4576. The message is simply: "we urge you to include the Earned Time Act (A.1085) on the next corrections agenda." More detailed instructions for reference here. Please take two minutes to make the call and encourage others to do the same! (And let us know if you get through and how it goes.)
Template Posts
Template Post #1: MAJOR MILESTONE: The Earned Time Act has passed the Senate Corrections Committee. This is a significant step forward toward safety, justice, and reuniting families. Contact your legislators to keep the momentum going: bit.ly/CNC_Call_Lawmakers
Template Post #2: CALL: Now that the Earned Time Act has passed Senate Corrections, it’s time for the Assembly to act. Contact Assembly Member Dilan today at 518-455-5821 or 718-386-4576 to urge him to include the Earned Time Act on the next Corrections agenda.
Template Post #3: In the ‘90s, NY slashed programs for incarcerated people and dramatically cut time that could be earned off sentences. Tell your legislators we need the Earned Time Act to support personal transformation and reunite families: bit.ly/CNC_Call_Lawmakers
More Info:
Katie Schaffer
Director of Advocacy and Organizing
Pronouns: She/they
Center for Community Alternatives, Inc.
Email: kschaffer@communityalternatives.org
Cell: 646-265-2044
www.communityalternatives.org
Our friends at the Katal Center and a wide coalition are gearing up to help implement the changes to the State Commission of Corrections (SCOC). the independent watchdog agency with oversight powers of all jails, prisons, and juvenile detention facilities in New York State, and the recent reforms to overhaul the agency.
The brutal murders of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in state prisons, the recent suicides of three women at Bedford Hills, and the mounting death toll at Rikers, are horrific reminders of how deadly the conditions are in New York's correctional facilities. After years of organizing to increase oversight by our directly impacted members and a statewide coalition of over 160 organizations, numerous reforms to overhaul the SCOC were passed in 2025. The changes were aimed to make the failing agency fulfill its constitutional mandate to ensure that all correctional facilities across New York are “safe, stable, and humane." We're now working to implement these reforms, including the establishment of a statewide complaint portal anyone can use to report issues in any correctional facility in NYS. The link to the new Complaint Portal for the SCOC is here.
The other focus of the coalition is to make recommendations to the governor regarding the newly required appointment of a formerly incarcerated person to the SCOC.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Yonah at yonah@katalcenter.org.
The NYS Council of Churches is also working with a coalition to provide civilian oversight of every county correctional facility in the state. County correctional facilities remain among the least independently monitored institutions in the correctional system. Reports continue to come in from all over the state regarding excessive force, denial of legal visits, unsafe conditions, medical neglect, lack of transparency or accountability and retaliation against those who file grievances.
Legislation has been proposed in both the Senate and the Assembly, S8856/A9617. The Senate bill is sponsored by Senator Julia Salazar and cosponsored by Cordell Cleare, Leroy Comnrie, and Patricia Fahy It is currently before the Senate Local Government Committee.
The Assembly version is sponsored by Assemblymember Gabriella Romero and cosponsored by Dana Levenberg and Phil Steck. It is before the Assembly Correction Committee.
Please contact your legislators and request they cosponsor the bill, or thank them if they already are on the bill. Find your legislators at https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator or https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search
The coalition includes Freedom Unshackled Coalition, the NYS Jail Justice Network, the NAACP Albany branch, the Center for Law and Justice, as well as the NYS Council of Churches.
For more information, contact Roni Minter at the Freedom Unshackled Coalition (718) 812-6473
