Commission on English Prisons Today
Visit to New York
8 - 11 July 2008
The trip included:
- Meeting with Elizabeth Alexander, ACLU National Prison Project
- Visit to Rikers Island jails
- Meeting with Kris Watson, Training and Technical Assistance Project Director, Family Justice with presentation of the work of La Bodega de la Familia project
- Visit to Red Hook Community Justice Centre including meeting Greg Berman, Director of the Centre for Court Innovation, and centre's director and Judge Alex Calabrese, who's in charge of the court.
- Meeting with Eric Cadora, Director, Justice Mapping Center and Prof Todd Clear, John Jay College
- Meeting with Michael J. Farrell, Deputy Police Commissioner, NYPD
- Visit to Drug Court: Drug Court Overview (Hon Joseph Gubbay, Hon Betty Williams and Justin Barry); Drug Court Observation - SSTEP AND MBTC; Tour of Treatment Centre; Discussion with Judge Juanita Bing Newton
- Meeting with Michael Jacobson and Joel Miller, Vera Institute
- The Commission also met with a number of key stakeholders including: Jamie Fellner, Human Rights Watch; Hon. Judy Harris Kluger, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Court Operations and Planning and Bruna DiBiase, her Chief of Staff; Robert Gangi, Executive Director, Correctional Association of New York, Russ Immarigeon, Editor, CRI Publications, and Prof Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Chair of the Commission, Professor David Wilson said:“... New York has actually seen a drop in prison numbers alongside a drop in crime. Those who work in the criminal justice system in the city believe that it is possible to reduce the prison population, create a safer community and reduce crime."
A report from the trip, Lessons from America
can be purchased online at www.howardleague.org