In September, the New York City Police Benevolent Association announced it and other police organizations in the state would be “targeting state senators who betrayed their constituents by voting for anti-police, pro-criminal legislation.”

Those senators were all Democrats.

NYCPBA’s ire was raised by a slate of progressive reforms passed last year, including a few that have been revisited and revised, like bail and discovery reform.

Police organizations have also been fighting against the repeal of 50a in court, a law that allowed law enforcement to shield police misconduct records from the public.

While there’s no doubt that Democrats will remain in control of the State Senate in January, even a single lost seat in Long Island or the Hudson Valley could lead to a reassessment of the conference’s aggressive stance toward criminal justice reform.   

But criminal justice advocates aren’t waiting to see what transpires in November. 

They’re already pushing for the next chapter in New York’s reform chronicles: Parole. 

Parole is supposed to get people home, not send people back, but according to Alexander Horwitz, executive directly of New Yorkers United for Justice, parole in New York doesn’t work, and needs to be completely overhauled.

“Every facet of the system, from the way the hearings are conducted, to the lack of due process for people who are in the system, to the number of people who are on the parole board, all of it is out of whack,” Horwitz told Capital Tonight. “But the most important thing about it in terms of why it doesn’t work is that, if you get on parole in New York, you’ve got a 50-50 shot of winding back behind bars, and that’s about twice as likely as anywhere else in the U.S. 

The reasons for that, says Horwitz, are technical violations, and the process by which technical violations are adjudicated.  

Technical violations are not the same as breaking the law; they are rules that parolees must follow, like appearing on time at scheduled meetings.

“It’s abominable,” Horwitz said.  “Your parole officer may say that you’ve committed a technical violation or he suspects you of that.  He can put you behind bars for the next 100 days while they determine whether you’ve done anything wrong or not.”

Horwitz says this kind of treatment is inherently racist, and could end up causing parolees to lose their homes or even their children if they happen to be single parents.

In the coming legislative session, New Yorkers United for Justice will be launching a campaign to reform New York’s parole laws.