Trump and the NY Post are using lies and fearmongering to stop bail
reform.
[ [link removed] ][IMG][ [link removed] ][IMG]
Help us get out the truth.
[ [link removed] ]CHIP IN $4
John,
We won historic legislation all but ending cash bail in New York--and now
it’s under threat. Before the law could even be implemented, racists
everywhere from law enforcement, to the media, and even Trump have
launched a smear campaign against it. The hard work of thousands of
community organizers, advocates, and Color Of Change members like you
could go down the drain. [ [link removed] ]But we won’t let the racists win--are you with
us?
Because of our fight, thousands of people who have not been convicted of a
crime will no longer suffer in jail simply because they can't afford bail.
The law doesn't go into effect until January, but local officials are
preparing to release people who are in stuck in jail because they couldn't
pay bail early so there isn't too much of a backlog in January. It only
makes sense. But last week the New York Post wrote multiple inflammatory
articles claiming 900 criminals would be released onto the street and
spread lies that New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio would be giving people
Mets tickets and gift cards as a "reward." The city hasn't even determined
what their supervised release program will need to look like for people
released under the new law yet. And it's not even confirmed that Mets
tickets are a part of the plan. These are clever lies that the NY Post is
telling to scare people into thinking we need mass incarceration.
We know the truth and we have a plan to defeat this smear campaign against
justice. Meeting community needs is proven to increase community safety
way more than jails ever could, but we need more people to know that. So
we’re launching a campaign to spread the truth about what ending mass
incarceration really means and we need your help to do it.
[ [link removed] ]Will you chip in $4 to help us get the truth out about NY
Post’s scare tactics?
The NY Post reaches over 400,000 people everyday and is the third most
read paper in New York, following the NY Times and the Wall Street
Journal. If we can’t stop them, what they’re doing will work. Lawmakers
have already introduced new legislation to roll our bail reform win
back--and the country is watching. But with the support of members like
you, we can do full scale media advertising that will combat the lies NY
Post and law enforcement is spreading--that looks like meeting everyday
New Yorkers where they are to tell them the truth. With your donations we
can do things like put up bus stop and radio ads, and hire staff to work
on a media strategy full-time. We’re up against really powerful opponents
with a huge platform, but if we all put our support together, one by one,
person by person, we can defeat them.
Releasing people pre-trial is working better than jail, which is costing
taxpayers A LOT more without improving public safety. In fact, extensive
research--and real-life examples from across New York State show that LESS
reliance on incarceration actually delivers MORE public safety. For the
past four years, NYC's supervised release program has helped people meet
their needs in order to make it back to court. They get $10 gift cards to
put food on the table, cellphones so they can get court reminders, and
metrocards so they can show up to court. These are basic necessities that
help families who couldn’t afford bail navigate the justice system and
stay together. In New York City, the jail population has dropped from
22,000 to 7,000 over the past three decades but at the same time crime is
lower than ever before. How? Legislators, advocates and stakeholders
focused on keeping people out of jail, and investing more in
community-based resources such as housing, treatment, services and care.
The result? Less incarceration and more public safety.
The real danger is inside of cages, not in granting people their rightful
freedom. Kalief Browder nearly died spending two years in solitary
confinement on Rikers Island and later committed suicide because of the
trauma he faced there. He was innocent and should have never been jailed
in the first place.
Despite the New York Post’s racist scare tactics, we aren't scared. And we
can't be silent. The stakes are really high in New York. If we can put an
end to this smear campaign, it will mean this law gets implemented without
hiccups and we can keep moving towards real justice in this country.
[ [link removed] ]I support the TRUTH, not NY Post’s lies.
Until justice is real,
--Clarise, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Marena,
Madison, Leonard, Tamar, Neosho, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
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References:
1. [ [link removed] ]"Highlights of New York's 2019 Bail Reform Law," Vera Institute for
Justice, July 2019
2. [ [link removed] ]"City Courts Are Getting A Jump Start on Bail Reforms Ahead of
January," Gothamist, 4 November, 2019
3. [ [link removed] ]"Nearly 900 city inmates may be freed before bail-reform law takes
effect," New York Post, 3 November 2019
[ [link removed] ]4. City Courts Are Getting A Jump Start on Bail Reforms Ahead of
January," Gothamist, 4 November, 2019
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. [ [link removed] ]"Comptroller Stringer: Despite a Decline in Incarceration,
Correction Spending, Violence, and Use of Force Continued to Rise in FY
2018," NY Comptroller's Office, 22 January 2019
8. [ [link removed] ]City Courts Are Getting A Jump Start on Bail Reforms Ahead of
January," Gothamist, 4 November, 2019
9. [ [link removed] ]"Neighborhood Stat: Strengthening Public Safety Through Community
Empowerment," Center for American Progress, 2 October 2019
10. "[ [link removed] ]If We Left Everybody Go There Would Be No One In Prison," NY
Times, 13 May 2018
11. [ [link removed] ]"NY Bail Reform Would Be Curbed Under GOP Proposals In
Legislature," New York Law Journal, 7 November 2019
12. [ [link removed] ]"The New York Post's Craven Ilhan Omar Cover Was An Insult to All
New Yorkers," GQ Magazine, 12 April 2019
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.
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