Special Initiatives and Events
WEBINAR RECORDING
Prisons, Place, and Power: A Dialogue about the Intersections of Identity, Geography, Personal History, and Politics in New York’s Prison Landscape
CANY hosted a discussion between Breea C. Willingham, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) and Clarence Jefferson Hall, Jr., PhD, Assistant Professor at CUNY Queensborough Community College and Visiting Instructor of Sustainability Studies at Pratt Institute; facilitated by Andre Ward, Associate Vice President of the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy at the Fortune Society, about the complex interactions of identity, geography, personal history, and politics in New York’s prison landscape. Originally broadcast on WBAI Radio (99.5 FM, NYC) - “On The Count: The Prison and Criminal Justice Report.”
WEBINAR RECORDING
“Keep in Touch” Launch Event with the Center for Urban Pedagogy
CANY collaborated with the Center for Urban Pedagogy’s (CUP) Public Access Design program to create the “Keep in Touch’’ brochure, a guide that explains how to stay connected with loved ones who are incarcerated in New York State prisons. During this launch event, CANY was joined by CUP and justice advocate and family member Jolene Russ for a discussion of the importance of staying connected with family and friends who are incarcerated as well as regarding CANY’s recent prison monitoring work.
DOCUMENTARY
Incarcerated People’s Experience with New York’s Parole System: 5-Part Documentary
In the Fall and Winter of 2019-2020, CANY conducted a survey about the parole process in New York with 1,994 incarcerated people across 49 New York State prisons. Each person interviewed previously appeared before a parole board and was denied parole at least once. As an accompaniment to the survey, CANY curated a 5 part documentary series, in which CANY aims to unpack the true nature of New York State’s incarcerated individuals’ described experiences with the parole process as told by those with lived experience.
DOCUMENTARY
Parole Justice New York: A Call to Action
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, CANY’s Board of Directors issued support for decarceration through parole reform, including for the passage of the Elder Parole, and Fair and Timely Parole bills.
FILM DOCUMENTARY
Attica is Every Prison
50 Years Later
To remember the Attica Uprising on its 50th anniversary, CANY held a virtual exhibition with the New York State Museum and released a short documentary film produced by David Kuhn. Learn more about the initiative by visiting CANY’s page on Attica is Every Prison | 50 Years Later and the New York State Museum at Virtual Exhibition: Open Wounds: The Fifty-Year Legacy of the Attica Prison Uprising and The Film: Every Prison Is Attica: A Short Documentary Film by David Kuhn
WEBINAR RECORDING
#DearCANY: COVID-19 Diaries from Prison (2020)
CANY, with Humanities NY, held an event in 2020 telling the story of how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted people in prison in New York State. Attendees witnessed letters written to CANY by incarcerated people, video testimony from directly impacted individuals and their families, as well as experts in the field to support documentation of the mostly unseen impacts of quarantine and contagion inside prison during the pandemic.
SOCIAL AWARENESS
#DearCANY
#DearCANY is a social media initiative that uses excerpts from letters written to the Correctional Association of New York by incarcerated people. This campaign communicates the experiences of people incarcerated in New York State prisons and highlights the need for system-wide reform.
WEBINAR RECORDING
Oversight, Reform, and Abolition: Webinar Recording (2020)
Jennifer Scaife, Executive Director, participates in a panel discussion at the 26th Annual Conference of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE).
WEBINAR RECORDING
CANY Participates in #TransformPrison Roundtable (2019)
Evan Misshula, former Associate Director of Research, presents CANY’s monitoring findings in New York prisons and notes staff misconduct in prisons at Urban Institute in support of their Prison Research and Innovation Initiative.
EVENT RECORDING
The Enduring Legacy of Attica (2019)
A conversation with Heather Ann Thompson, author of the Pulitzer-prize winning Blood in the Water, about the 1971 uprising and its lasting impact. Thompson spoke with Martha King, CANY board member; Tyrrell Muhammad, CANY Monitoring Associate; and Jose Saldana, Director, Release Aging People in Prison Campaign. Presented in partnership with Humanities New York and Release Aging People in Prison at Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn.
PODCAST
Prison oversight reform in New York?
2020
PODCAST
Inside the prison oversight bill that awaits Cuomo’s signature
2020