The Communities not Cages campaign is advocating for the passage of three bills geared toward sentencing reform in the 2026 legislative session: The Second Look Act, the Earned Time Act, and the Marvin Mayfield Act. The Second Look Act allows incarcerated individuals who have served 10 years of their sentence to apply for a sentence reduction, and the Earned Time Act would allow incarcerated individuals to earn time dedicated to rehabilitation to make an easier transition upon their release.
The Marvin Mayfield Act would eliminate mandatory minimums, which require a minimum amount of prison time by law for specific crimes, which the Communities Not Cages campaign says can be an incentive to individuals to plead guilty for a deal even if they are innocent.
According to Garrett Smith, a statewide organizer with the Center for Community Alternatives, the bills would allow incarcerated individuals an easier transition to life outside prison.
“[A] majority of people have a release date, and then they're being released to the community, and with no services, no supports, no way of really moving them, their lives forward,” he said.
Smith says that the Communities Not Cages campaign, which launched in January 2022, is advocating for the end of mass incarceration and criminalization in New York state.
“I call it personally 'systemic oppression,' because it's very organized. It's a lot of arbitrary rules that's really just put in place to keep a person stagnant at whatever level within the socioeconomic system they're in. But we're here to really just try to remove those barriers and instill self-reliance so people can move life, move their life forward as they see fit.”
State Assemblymember Gabriella Romero spoke addressed the impact mass incarceration has on Black and brown communities in the state. Romero told WAMC News she was particularly invested in the passage of the Marvin Mayfield Act, saying that it would allow judges to look at cases on an individualized basis.
“That bill specifically would end mandatory minimums and make sure that judges are able to have wide discretion, make sure that every single case is treated individualized and based on the facts of that case.”
Advocates also spoke about the omnibus bill that is currently awaiting action from Governor Kathy Hochul. The prison reform omnibus bill that was passed by the state legislature in June would increase transparency in correctional facilities. It was passed in the wake of the killing of Robert Brooks, an incarcerated man who was killed by correctional officers in Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County last December, sparking statewide outcry and calls for reform.
Romero said she hopes Governor Hochul will sign the bills without amendments.
“I think that these bills are common sense," she said. "I think that a lot of these bills - adding that label of moderate, left, right, whatever - these bills, no matter where you are on a political spectrum, add a level of transparency and accountability that's needed within our prison system. They add safety to our prison system.”
In a statement to WAMC News, a spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul's office said the Governor will review the omnibus bill, and that the safety of all New Yorkers is a "top priority," citing new changes to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's policies.
Jaime Bailey Warren, whose husband Steven Warren was incarcerated for 28 years on murder and robbery charges, spoke about why she believes incarcerated individuals should have better access to rehabilitation programs. She said she hopes that bills like the Second Look Act and the Earned Time Act will allow incarcerated individuals who have completed rehabilitation programs to be released earlier.
“We need to bring our people home," she said. "There's way too many people that are in there serving, you know, 20, 30, 40, years or more. I know wives of two people that are serving like 110 and 120 year sentences that we don't have the death penalty anymore, but you that is essentially what you're giving someone when you give them 110 or 120 years. We need to change the sentencing laws. We need to create fair pathways home for people and reduce the number of incarcerated in the state.”
