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For advocates of New York states parole system reform, time is of the essence.

Its not just that the state Legislature is nearing the end of its session;its that every day that passes is another day that people who would benefit most from parole reform spend locked up.

Its about giving people a chance, said Alisha Kohn, director of the Queer Justice Committee at the Newburgh LGBTQ Center,who served 10 years in prison.Its taking into account not what you did 23 years ago its taking into account what youre doing now, askingtheparoleboard totake that as a factor.

New York lawmakers are weighing a pair of bills that would make significant changes to the way the state's parole system works, including one measure that would require the parole board to put a greater focus on rehabilitation when deciding whether to release an incarcerated individual.

Advocates for the bills say they would help bring more fairness to the criminal justice system. But for many law enforcement officials, parole reform would representanother blowto public safety, followingon the heels of reforms to bail and evidence disclosurethat went into effect in January 2020.

TimothyDymond, president ofthe New York State Police Investigators Association, said police and prosecutors have the same concerns now as then: Reformers are proposing and pushing through significant changes without seeking meaningful contributions from the law enforcement side.

Without getting the input, without having a level of reasonableness involved, Dymond said, I oppose any reform that makes the people of New York state less safe, and Ialwayswill. Thats what we do.

Asked Wednesday about parole reform while at an unrelated news conference in Manhattan, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would have to consider the bills in their final form before taking a position on them. Cuomo said he'd be more supportive of measures that allow parole decisions to be made "on the merits" rather than on a "template" that would grant an automatic release in certain situations.

"Again, it depends on what winds up in a final bill, and you know as well as I that bills change at the last minute," he said.

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Two bills supported by the Peoples Campaign for Parole Justice, an advocacy coalition, are pendinginthe current legislative session.

TheElder Parolebill would provide a chance at a parole hearing for all inmates ages 55 and older who have served at least 15 years, regardless of their sentence.If passed,about 1,000people would immediately become eligible for parolehearings.

TheFair and Timely Parole bill would center parole standards around the persons rehabilitation while in prisonand disallow parole denials solely based on the crime of conviction.The proposal would stillallowdenial of parole if the board found that the person posed a significant risk to community safety.

On May 26, a coalition of groups including No One LeavesMid Hudson, the Newburgh/HighFalls NAACP, the Newburgh LGBTQ Center,Decarceratethe Hudson Valley, the NU-V.O.T.E.R.S. Movement andthe Release Aging People in Prison Campaign rallied on Grand Street in Newburgh, outside the district offices of state Sen.JamesSkoufisand Assembly memberJonathan Jacobson. The crowd of roughly 30 people chanted, Bring our elders home now and Parole justice now.

Theyurgedthe legislators to sign on to the bills as sponsors, in hopes they will advance to the floor for votes before the session endsJune 10.

A correctional facility is supposed to change behavior, Newburgh City Councilman Omari Shakurtold the rally.If you change behavior, whyare you denying people when they gobefore the parole board?

He pointed to himself as proof people can change: In and out of jail and prison from the age of 16 until 1996, Shakur hasstayed free since then, and is now an elected city official.

The push for reform is acutely personal for many advocates.

Kenyatta Shabazz of Newburgh spokeat the rally and afterwardabout her grandfather, Ulysses Boyd, who at 66 suffers from blood clots, asthma and other lung issues, and is recovering from COVID-19.Boyd has been in prison for 38 years, serving a sentence of 50 years to life for a murder committed when he was 22.Shabazzhas never seen her grandfatheroutside of Greenhaven Correctional Facility.Hes parole eligible in2036.

Not only is my grandfather a changed man from who he was 38 years ago, he has helped so many people, Shabazzsaid, adding that he works in the prison law library, helping others research their cases andwrite legal briefs.

At first, it was just life for me: Every weekend, you go see grandpa for five hours,she added, but then she saw a video of him talking about how he was waiting to die in prison.That put a spark in me.

Clifford Howard ofNewburgh, who was paroled in November after serving 38 years for murder, knew Boyd in Manhattan in the 1970s, and at Greenhaven. He saw a transformation.

Hed be a good person to be released under this new bill,Howard told Shabazz. Many people change, Howard said during the rally;insteadofcrime, theyre thinking about their families.

I thank God I still had some family that was around,and thats what got him through, Howardsaid.Thestrength that they gave me, the hope that they gave me, and my faith in Jesus Christ.

Alisha Kohn, who is transgender, spent 10 years in a mens prison and was denied parole three times before getting out.

I made it out. Im here, she said during the rally, noting thatothers who deserve release are still in prison.

Some people I consider my family that should be here now are not.

Erie County District AttorneyJohn Flynn,vice president of the District Attorneys Association of New York, opposes the parole reform bills, especially in combination.

"You're going to have the potential for some pretty serious criminals, who got a lot of years in jail, for getting out of prison," he said. "That is troublesome, and it's not good for public safety."

Even for murderers and child rapists, he said,under Fair and Timely, "there's almost a presumption in the bill that if you've been good in prison, that you're going to get out,"

Wayne Spence,president of the New York State Public Employees Federation, has beena parole officer since 1993. He said that when he started, there were about 1,200 parole offices statewide; now there are 700. Meanwhile, the number of people on parole orpost-release supervision is significantly higher.

The caseload has mushroomed, Spence said.Parole officers have less time to spend, he said, on monitoring high-needs, high-risk cases, such as sex offenders, gang members and people with mental illness, let alone helping people on paroleget back on their feet with programs or jobs.

We want these people to succeed; we do, Spence said. But he added that parole officers are unable now to monitor people as closely, or work with them as intensively as in the past, Spence said.

Its now justreferhim to a program, give him alistof jobs, and move on to the next case, Spence said.

Giving more peopleparole without first expanding the programs that help them, including the housing and care that older people require, a recipe for trouble, he added.

Unfortunately, its going to take parolees committing heinous crimesto change policy, Spence said.

Dymond and his union say that has already happened. A paroleewas charged with felony drug possession in May 2020in Sullivan Countyand released, despite multiple felony convictions and incarcerations,in keeping with bail reform.In October, the man Ray Kelly was charged with fatally dragging a South Carolina sheriffs deputy during a traffic stop, and now faces murder charges.

In 2019, New Yorks parole system caused state and local governments to spend $683 million to lock up people for parole violations. And $91 million of that was spent by counties to jail people charged with technical parole violations, according to an analysis released in March by the Columbia University Justice Lab and the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. That includes $3.1 million in Orange County, $1.5 million in Sullivan, and $1.8 million in Ulster.

Spence said society has forced politicians to take a hard look atrelease conditions for older, infirm people in prison, but we cant just put these people out on the street.

Why are we not creating a cross-agency task force to deal with those high-risk populations so we can get them out of jail and have services for them? he asked.I would not be arguing against this if the services were in place.

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'Giving people a chance': Progressives pushing for NY parole reform, but time is ticking - Times Herald-Record