Nick Encalada-Malinowski, the civil rights campaign director for VOCAL-NY, a grassroots organization, said the bill would have removed various barriers for folks who got their wrongful conviction cases dismissed on procedural or technical grounds. The bill, he said, would have given them a chance to get their cases heard on the merits. “The problem of […]
“Gov. Hochul’s failure to sign the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act only shows that she believes that innocent people should be in prison,” Roger Clark, who leads the activist group VOCAL-NY, said in a statement. “There’s no excuse for her not to sign this bill.” “We will be back in Albany in January to continue our
Common Dreams: NY Governor Hochul Vetoes Wrongful Conviction, Immigrant Rights Bills Read More »
VOCAL-NY Director of Drug Policy Jasmine Budnella makes the case for a state law that would pave the way to more programs checking illicit drugs for unexpected substances, like fentanyl. Listen Here
Capitol Pressroom: Utilizing ‘drug checking’ services to prevent overdoses Read More »
Harm reductionists reacted with exasperation to what is only the latest political attack on these programs in New York. “It’s a disgrace for Republicans and the Post to politicize life-saving strategies as a talking point,” Steven Gray, drug policy campaign coordinator for VOCAL-NY, told Filter. “We’re talking about people’s lives.” Read More
Filter: New York Post’s Latest Attack on Harm Reduction “a Disgrace” Read More »
New York has since taken valuable steps to decrease the possibility of wrongful conviction. But it needs to act on behalf of those who have, nonetheless, been declared guilty of crimes they did not commit – or who will be. In particular, it needs to join the majority of other states and acknowledge “actual innocence”
Supporters of Trawick rallied at One Police Plaza in Manhattan, demanding the two officers be fired. “Fire Thompson Davis for Kawaksi,” chanted a group of friends and family on Thursday. “The deputy commissioner of the NYPD Maldonado has recommended that these two officers Thompson and Davis keep their jobs,” said Jawanza Williams, director of organizing
What’s seen next on the bodycam video, which the NYPD didn’t release for more than a year-and-a-half after the incident, angers Jawanza Williams, the director of organizing at Vocal-NY, a citizens’ advocacy group that’s worked closely with the Trawick Family. “They failed to render aid,” Williams said, referring to images captured on video from both
PIX11: Officers in Kawaski Trawick’s death may not be disciplined: report Read More »
Inaction on this bill is a policy choice to deny wrongfully convicted people the chance to present evidence that shows their innocence. New York can do better than Justice Thomas’s vision of injustice. Read More
The protesters started out with dozens gathering at City Hall’s plaza for a vigil to honor lives lost to the overdose crisis, which they date back to the so-dubbed “war on drugs” as well as the recent fentanyl and opioid waves. The rallying groups included Vocal-NY, Drug Policy Alliance, and Katal Center members. Reverend Erica
Amsterdam News: Vocal-NY rallies for International Overdose Awareness Day Read More »
Criminal justice advocates lauded the new poll as evidence Hochul should sign the bill. “This polling shows definitively what we’ve been saying for years: passing the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act is both good policy and good politics,” Nick Encalada-Malinowski, civil rights campaign director at VOCAL-NY, said in a statement. “The legislature has done its part
City & State: Poll: New Yorkers support Wrongful Convictions Act Read More »
