prison reform

(Airs 12/12/25 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: Advocates call on Governor Hochul to sign an Omnibus Prison Reform package, State Senator James Skoufis, a Democrat, asks the Attorney General James to investigate a village election, and we’ll take a look at the city of Albany using social service case workers to some 911 calls.

On the anniversary of Robert Brooks' death, advocates in Albany called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign an Omnibus Prison Reform package.

(Airs 09/05/25 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: With children back in school this week, districts across New York state are implementing cellphone bans, many colleges and universities are grappling with how to implement and regulate A-I in the classroom, and we’ll talk about educating the incarcerated with Max Kenner, founder and Executive Director of the Bard Prison Initiative.

(Airs 08/28/25 @ 3 p.m.) WAMC’s David Guistina in conversation with Chris Gelardi, Criminal Justice Investigative Reporter for New York Focus, about President Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold funding from states that offer cashless bail, state gang databases and how they’re used by ICE to identify people for deportation, problems with the state prison system, and much more.

(Airs 03/06/25 @ 3 p.m.) WAMC’s David Guistina in conversation with David Lombardo, Host of the Capitol Pressroom on WCNY about the major items left to be resolved in budget negotiations, how federal cuts will impact New York, the New York City Mayoral race, and much more.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul says 15 staff members at Mid-State Correctional Facility outside Utica have been placed on leave after the death of inmate Messiah Nantwi.

(Airs 02/14/25 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: Top officials travel the state to promote Governor Hochul’s budget priorities, the father of a man who was killed in a Utica area prison comes to Albany to call for prison reform, and a new bill introduced in the New York State Legislature this week would make it easier for municipalities to opt into rent control.

(Airs 01/31/25 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: In the wake of the death of Robert Brooks, lawmakers and advocates are calling for prison reforms, we’ll talk with Avery Stempel, Co-founder of New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives, about four bills that would make psilocybin-containing mushrooms legal, and New York failed the American Lung Association’s annual “State of Tobacco Control” report.

One of the writers who took part in a Lenox, Massachusetts residency program last month is working on a memoir about her experiences with the prison industrial complex as a Black woman, mother, and abolitionist.

The ACLU of Vermont is calling on state legislators to reject funding that would further a plan to replace the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, and instead move toward community-based initiatives to reduce the prison population across the state.