Any rational response to the pandemic must prioritize decreasing jail populations before it’s too late.
As crowded jail conditions eliminate the ability to practice necessary social distancing, it would not only be a disservice to the New York public, but a danger, to tuck rollbacks to the state’s bail reform law into the FY2021 spending plan.
Tags Share Among the things that have happened since Landon Davis got arrested and charged with simple robbery last summer: His fiance gave birth to their baby daughter—and a global pandemic arrived in Louisiana, upending normal life for state residents as the death toll continues to rise. Davis couldn’t afford his $5,000 bond, so he…
“Every day we keep someone needlessly incarcerated during this crisis is a matter of life and death and we can’t delay action any longer,” says Kerry Kennedy.
No one deserves to be held in pretrial detention, especially during a global health crisis, just because they can’t afford to pay cash bail.
For over half a century, we’ve known that cash bail violates our moral obligations and civil rights. Now, public health is on the line.
Tags Share In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic outbreak—qualified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO)—we, the undersigned organizations, express grave concern over the situation of detainees and prisoners across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). While certain states in the region have taken some positive…
The move, in partnership with the Safety and Freedom Fund at Operation Restoration, will release 22 people held in pretrial detention simply because they cannot afford to pay bail.
Tags Share As jails prove to be dangerous hot spots for the coronavirus, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has partnered with community bail funds and local organizers across the country, including Just City in Memphis, Tennessee, to free as many people from pretrial detention while we could still save lives. For Josh Spickler, executive director…
We urge the abolition of punitive separation and prolonged solitary confinement in New York City.
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) stands with The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The New York Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, DKT Liberty Project, The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, The Chief Defenders Association of New York, The New York State Defenders Association and Discovery for Justice…
Tags Share At the 2019 Compass Investor Conference, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Chief Operating Officer Michael Schreiber moderated a panel on the economic impact and opportunity costs of mass incarceration. Joined by Vera Institute of Justice Vice President Insha Raman, Kadens Family Foundation Chair Pete Kadens, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Staff Attorney…
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