Decades of mass incarceration have devastated families and communities.

Join us to overhaul New York’s racist and draconian sentencing laws that funnel thousands of New Yorkers into cages and fail to deliver safety, healing, or justice.
SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER

New York’s sentencing laws are racist and unjust. 

The state spends $69,355 per year to incarcerate a single person, rather than investing in resources and programs that truly prevent harm.
75%
of New Yorkers incarcerated in state prisons are Black or brown.
98%
of convictions are a result of coercive plea deals, not a trial.

Mass incarceration is not an accident.

Over the past half-century, New York’s sentencing laws have driven the crisis of mass incarceration. From the 1970’s Rockefeller Drug Laws to the 1990’s “tough on crime” era, New York built a sentence regime that funnelled hundreds of thousands into cages. Learn the history, then join the fight to undo these harms.

Learn the history
Illustration of elder and child planting

Survivors overwhelmingly want investments in communities over long prison sentences.

According to a first-ever national survey of crime victims, survivors - by a margin of 15 to 1 - prefer increased investments in schools and education over more investments in prisons and jails. 

Incarceration causes further harm.

More than 20% of incarcerated people have a diagnosed mental health condition. People in prison are more likely than the general population to have serious health problems (44% struggle with a chronic health condition) due to inhumane living conditions. Every year, thousands of prisoners report being assaulted and many more cases go unreported.

The harm is intergenerational.

More than 105,000 children have a parent serving time in a New York jail or prison, which increases the likelihood of their own incarceration. Instead of celebrating holidays together or connecting at family reunions, people are too often imprisoned alongside their own children and parents. 

That’s why we need to invest more in our communities, not cages.

New York spends more than $3 billion each year to cage New Yorkers in state prisons. These resources are thus unavailable for what truly creates safety: education, housing, healthcare, and community-based programs.

Our system needs urgent change, so we’ve got bold legislative demands.

We are fighting to win legislation that will decarcerate New York’s prisons, interrupt the abusive power of prosecutors, and build the power of Black, brown, working class and poor communities most impacted by injustices within the criminal legal system. Together, we will:

Together, we can build a world that invests in real justice, safety, and healing.

Take action
Illustration of woman with child on swing

Join the movement to invest in communities, not cages.

We’ll email you updates, events, and other ways to take action.