New York's chief judge, DOCCS commissioner call for passage of 'Second Look Act'

Formerly & currently incarcerated leaders joined in person to share stories of transformation & call for passage 

Submitted by Center for Community Alternatives

In a groundbreaking and historic state of the judiciary, New York State Chief Judge Rowan Wilson and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello joined the growing call for the passage of the “Second Look Act,” standing alongside currently and formerly incarcerated leaders, including CCA community members Tami Eldridge and Mujahideen Mohammed.

Thomas Gant at the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) released the following statement, “By championing the Second Look Act, Chief Judge Wilson and Commissioner Martuscello are recognizing the need to address excessive sentences that serve neither safety nor justice. Today’s state of the judiciary was a resounding affirmation that our legal system must evolve – and there is broad support for it to happen now.

“The Second Look Act embodies this necessary change by offering incarcerated people the opportunity to petition for resentencing and permits judges to revisit and reduce sentences. This gives New Yorkers a real opportunity to show their transformation, return to their families, and rebuild their lives. We urge the Legislature to pass the Second Look Act without delay.”

The Hon. Wilson underscored the urgent need for sentencing reform, stating, “It is important to remember that all humans, from time to time, do something wrong. But our criminal justice system, as it stands, isn’t working – perhaps it never truly has. Prolonged incarceration is costly, ineffective, and does not make us safer.”

He directly questioned the fairness of life sentences handed down to young people: “Mr. Martinez surely did something very wrong, but that isn't the question before us. The question is whether the judge who sentenced Mr. Martinez might have been wrong when he decided the actions of the 17-year-old required a sentence rendering Mr. Martinez ineligible for release until he was 82 years old.”

Wilson emphasized the role of judges in mass incarceration, challenging the assumption that people sentenced decades ago are beyond change.

“Over-incarceration has everything to do with the courts,” he said. “No prosecutor, jury, legislator or executive branch official imposed a prison sentence – every person incarcerated in New York was sentenced by a judge. Yet under our current system, a judge makes a life-altering decision about the length of a person’s incarceration at the moment of their conviction, without the ability to later assess whether that person has changed.”

Martuscello reaffirmed his commitment to rehabilitation and transformation within the prison system: “Individuals go to prison as punishment, not for punishment, and I will not normalize violence within our facilities.”

He emphasized that people must be defined by who they are today, not solely by their past mistakes: “Through this lens, we can begin to change the narrative so that those impacted by the criminal justice system may be defined by the person they are today, and the totality of their experiences, rather than the worst mistake of their lives.”

Martuscello also outlined the department’s commitment to expanding opportunities for self-transformation: “The department is taking critical steps with the support of the governor, the Legislature and our partners to provide positive incentives to those willing to do the hard work of self-transformation.”

CCA member Tami Eldridge, who has been incarcerated for 25 years at Bedford Hills, spoke about the need for change in the justice system: “I know that I might never leave Bedford Hills, but others will. And so, I help everyone I can.”

She shared how she has committed herself to transformation, despite the uncertainty of her future: “Although my body is not free, my soul is free. But I am choosing my own way and a place where I was sent to die. I choose to do things, to try to repair the harm that I have caused, and to love my daughters, and to lift up others.”

CCA member Mujahideen Mohammed, who was incarcerated for 24.5 years and released 10 months ago, spoke about the need to rethink extreme sentences and recognize rehabilitation: “The first task that Dr. Downey gave me was to research and write a report about the pending Second Look Act – an assignment that overjoyed me.

“The research became an outlet for my survivor's guilt and tremendous empathy I felt for the good men with excessive sentences, whom I left behind at Sing Sing.”

Mohammed emphasized the importance of investing in incarcerated people and recognizing that transformation is possible: “My story shows what’s possible when we invest in our incarcerated population, no matter how grave the crimes they once committed.”

He also called on the public to support second chances for people still behind bars: “I am one of many, many formerly incarcerated men and women who have successfully transitioned back into society. My one hope is that the success of the formerly incarcerated population becomes more apparent, so that the wider public can support the idea of granting second chances.”

Christopher Martinez, who was sentenced as a teenager to 65 years to life and is currently incarcerated at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, spoke about the devastating impact of extreme sentencing and called for a justice system that recognizes transformation and gives people a second chance: "I devoted myself to the idea of redemption and rehabilitation, to proving that I could be a productive member of a community, to proving to others that they can live safely around me."

Martinez asked for the Second Look Act to ensure fairness in sentencing: "I have hope, especially because of today’s event, that we can refine how Lady Justice uses us, that we can work to redraw the line in imposing punishment that is sufficient but not greater than necessary."

The Second Look Act would allow judges to review and reconsider excessive sentences. Under current sentencing laws, incarcerated people have no opportunity to demonstrate to a judge that they have transformed while incarcerated or to seek a reconsideration of unjust sentences. 

Judges across the country have spoken out about their inability to address excessive sentences. For example, in 2016, Chief U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill wrote in the New York Times that a 18-year sentence he had handed down was too harsh and lamenting that he was unable to modify it.

Nationally, second-look bills are gaining momentum with legislation passed in four states – Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon – plus the District of Columbia, and proposed in an additional 22 states. Federally, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker has proposed second-look legislation in Congress. This urgent and common-sense reform has extensive support from: judges, law enforcement, the American Bar Association, dozens of labor unions, business, and over 200 civil rights, legal, and community organizations. The bills also have nearly majority support in the State Legislature.

This legislation is broadly popular with New Yorkers. Recent polling by EMC Research found that 68% of New Yorkers support the Second Look Act. 

New York’s sentencing laws are outdated and archaic, passed during the 1970s Rockefeller Drug Law era and the years following the 1994 Crime Bill, and they have disproportionately impacted Black and brown communities. Right now, over 30,000 people are incarcerated in New York’s prisons. Nearly 75% are Black or brown. 

Instead of excessive sentences, survivors of crime overwhelmingly prefer investments in the community, by a factor of 15 to 1.

Mass incarceration is ineffective – and costly. It costs nearly $70,000 per year to incarcerate a person in state prison with an annual prison system price tag of $3 billion. These are billions of dollars New York state could spend on education, housing, health care, community-based anti-violence and restorative justice programs.

More than 105,000 children have a parent serving time in a New York jail or prison, which devastates families, and increases the likelihood of a child’s future incarceration.