News Article

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  April 02, 2017 PIX11

  New report shows what closing Rikers Island means for NYC

  Members of the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform shared a stage with district attorneys from across the five boroughs and elected officials at John Jay College to talk about what shutting down Rikers would mean for the city.

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  January 23, 2017 The Daily Star

  Cuomo clemency decision revives rehabilitation debate

  Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to grant clemency to a former Weather Underground activist convicted of felony murder in the killings of two police officers and an armored car guard is invigorating debate over whether criminals who've transformed their lives should be allowed to return to society.

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  February 22, 2017 CityLab

  How one nonprofit breaks the cycle of incarceration

  Staffed mostly by [formerly incarcerated individuals], New York’s Fortune Society works to build a safety net for its clients, even before they’re released from jail or prison.

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  October 27, 2016 The Washington Post

  ‘Invisible punishment’ hits [formerly incarcerated] people for life; DOJ, HUD fight blanket rental bias

  There’s been a lot of bipartisan talk lately about criminal justice reform. But action is slow. Too slow for Pedro Collazo, dangling in a web of collateral consequences.

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  November 07, 2016 Jezebel

  This probably will end badly

  Earlier this year, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito formed an independent commission to determine whether the dilapidated and violent city jail on Rikers Island should (and could) be shut down. Now, Politico New York reports, the vultures are circling: real estate developers like Related Companies have expressed an interest in the site.

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  November 10, 2016 Times Ledger

  New study shows Sandy exacerbated mental health and drug use issues

  Kenneth Brown did not think the projections for Sandy could be true. As he visited a friend in the Rockaways on the weekend of Oct. 29, 2012, he said he did not imagine what the following weeks of his life would entail when the hurricane hit the city, causing significant damage along the peninsula.

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