Some of the highest rates of COVID-19 have been in jails and prisons across the country, and New York is no exception. Today, there are thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers behind bars, several are there for non-criminal violations of parole.  New York is only one of two states in the entire country which jails thousands of people for non-criminal violations of parole.

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There are approximately 35,000 people under active parole supervision in New York State who, at almost any time, can see their efforts to successfully rejoin the workforce and reintegrate into their families and their communities disrupted by reincarceration for a technical violation.  This not only harms individual lives and families without commensurate public safety gains, but also drives up the population in the state prisons and local jails, wasting taxpayer money.

New York imprisons more people for non-criminal “technical” violations of parole like missing an appointment with a parole officer, being late for curfew, or testing positive for alcohol and other drugs than any state in the country except Illinois.