A new law in New York means that people on parole won't necessarily be sent back to prison when they violate the terms of their release.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the "Less is More" measure into law last week, eliminating things like missed appointments, unauthorized change of address and broken curfew from the list of things that can lead to a revocation of parole and a return to state custody.
Much like the state's elimination of cash bail for most offenses, the reform changed longtime regulations that many view as unnecessarily harsh. Advocates said the change is long overdue because "technical" parole violations have created a costly cycle of re-incarceration in New York that disproportionately affected minorities. The law includes exceptions for parolees who demonstrate a threat to public safety.
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But just like bail reform, the changes to parole are going to require careful study to see in any tweaks need to be made. The Legislature listened to the many critics of bail reform and amended that law to make more crimes eligible for cash bail and giving judges more discretion to decide when certain suspects can be held before trial.
Conditions of parole are meant to help assimilate former inmates back into society by steering them into programming designed to help them make better choices, and critics say that giving parolees fewer reasons to follow the rules contradicts the overall goal of public safety.
The results of this latest reform are going to have to be carefully monitored, and the Legislature needs to be prepared to make changes if it can be demonstrated that it isn't working as well as expected.
The Citizen editorial board includes publisher Michelle Bowers, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd.