Release Aging People In Prison Campaign

Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) is a grassroots advocacy campaign created and led by formerly incarcerated people. We work to end the racist law-and-order policies that have more than doubled the number of elders behind bars over the past 20 years, to expand the use of parole, compassionate release, and clemency, and to end life imprisonment. By advocating to free incarcerated elders—women and men who have served decades in prison for crimes including those of violence; who have taken responsibility, transformed their lives, developed profound skills and abilities, and who pose little if any public safety risk—we strike at the system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color.

Our Clemency Demands

We demand Governor Hochul use her executive power to grant clemency:

Frequently: Most governors view clemency as a gift for the holidays or the new year. We don’t believe that values of mercy and redemption, and the exercise of clemency, should be limited to once or twice per year. We call on the NYS Governor to grant clemencies on an ongoing, frequent basis throughout the year.

Transparently: There is no public information about who in the Governor’s office is responsible for reviewing clemency applications or how applications are processed and evaluated. There is also no publicly available data provided documenting the number of clemency applications submitted, responded to, granted, or denied. This leaves many incarcerated people and their families in a state of despair. We call on the Governor to center public transparency in her office’s use of processes associated with clemency review and decision-making.

Inclusively: Incarcerated people are convicted of many different crimes and serve all sorts of sentences. We believe that the power of clemency should be extended across these demographics, categorically including all people for clemency consideration, and not excluding anyone based on the nature of their crime, sentence, or time served. We believe that everyone is deserving of redemption and a second chance, and call on the NYS Governor to promote a value and principle of inclusion in her clemency practice.