Auburn: Women wearing masks, carrying bags wait on line outside building

As New York Prisons Open to Visitors Again, Mixed Emotions Run High

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AUBURN, New York — On the day she would see her father for the first time in nearly five months as he bounced among three maximum-security prisons, Julianna Bundschuh, 5, hung on the metal fence of Auburn Correctional Facility as if it were at a playground. Near her stood Kristina Abell, who arrived first at 7 a.m. Wednesday with eight boxes of food for her son. Behind Abell was a woman named Courtney who didn’t want to give her last name. She came to see her fiance and was wondering how long these visits would last. None had seen their loved ones since mid-March, when state-run prisons across New York suspended visitation due to coronavirus.

warrant squad: Overhead view of spread-out group of people outside near fountain at night

New York Politicians Divided on Protester Arrests by Warrant Squad

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NEW YORK — After a viral video surfaced showing plainclothes NYPD detectives forcing an anti-police protester into an unmarked police van, questions remain about why they were allowed to make the arrest. The protester, Nikki Stone, 18, was arrested and given a summons early Wednesday morning after New York Police Department officials alleged she damaged five police cameras at City Hall during demonstrations over the last several weeks. 

An NYPD spokesperson also said Stone and others allegedly threw rocks and bottles at police during the arrest, though this was not immediately evident from video at the scene. The warrant squad who arrested Stone is supposed to only respond when an individual has active bench warrants against them for incidents like missing a court date. In this case it remains unclear whether Stone had active warrants. The squad has reportedly targeted protesters in the past, and those most intimately familiar with their tactics said the Stone arrest marks a frightening turning point for detectives.

Henry Montgomery

Inmate From Supreme Court Case Rejected for Parole a Second Time

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It’s now been three years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Henry Montgomery should have a chance to earn parole, because he’d been a teenager at the time of his crime. But on Thursday, the Louisiana parole board voted against parole for Montgomery for the second time. So Montgomery, now 72, will remain in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, working five days a week at the prison silk-screen shop, as he has for decades. “I’m almost at a loss for words at how it is possible that Henry, yet again, was denied. One would have thought that he would be one of the first,” said Marsha Levick, chief legal officer of the Juvenile Law Center.

Close to Home experts were on panel: 3 men, 2 women:

New York’s Successful Close to Home Program Endangered in State Budget

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New York City has completely eliminated the prison population of kids younger than 16, thanks to Close to Home, a program that allows juveniles to stay in small group homes closer to their communities.

But although many city officials and advocates consider Close to Home a success, it’s threatened by major potential budget cuts in Albany, New York.

Henry Montgomery of Supreme Court Case Denied Parole

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The man whose case was central to the Supreme Court's Montgomery v. Louisiana was denied parole today by a three-man panel, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported. Henry Montomery, 71, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the 1963 killing of an East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputy, when he was 17.

reentry, trauma, Rikers Woman in pink hat, turtleneck speaks on steps of government building, surrounded by men in dark suits, T-shirts, holding banners.

Provide Better Reentry, Don’t Just Close Rikers, Advocates Urge

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Advocates and activists who have been pushing to close Rikers want to make substantive policy changes for incarcerated youth.
“It’s not enough to close Rikers,” said Iesha Sekou, CEO of nonprofit Street Corner Resources, which works with young people. “We have to make sure young people have a real chance at rehabilitation.”

The Little Boy Who Lost His Dream

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As I grew older, the innocence I had as a child was lost. That was when my neighborhood became heavily infested with drug dealers and violent gang members. Living in the neighborhood became an everyday struggle just to survive.