News

CCA Submits Amicus Brief in Muntaqim v. Coombe Click here to open a pdf (854K) of the amicus brief.

CCA was one of 30 organizations invited to submit an amicus brief in the case of Muntaqim v. Coombe to be argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The case focuses on whether the Voting Rights Act of 1965 can be used to challenge New York's felon disfranchisement law. Muntaqim is one of four felon disfranchisement cases pending in the federal courts. CCA's brief was filed jointly with the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and The Sentencing Project with O’Melveny & Myers as counsel.

The issue addressed in CCA's brief is whether racial disparities exists in both the federal and state criminal justice system to a similar extent so that both should be considered as the context for finding the disenfranchisement provisions of Election Law 35-106 a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Alan Rosenthal, Director of Justice Strategies, named to New York State Bar Association Committee to examine collateral consequences of criminal proceedings. The committee will study the numerous barriers to reintegration faced by those charged with committing a crime. Click here to read Rosenthal’s recent paper, Unlocking the Potential of Reentry and Reintegration. Click here to read the NYS Bar Association Press Release.

12-08-04 Judge Buckley quotes Justice Strategies’ Tools for Defense Attorneys: Obtain a Copy of the Pre-sentence Report in his decision, People v. Anthony Boice. Judge Buckley found that errors or inaccuracies in the Pre-Sentence Investigation must be removed because they could follow the defendant throughout his involvement in the criminal justice system and were improper for consideration for correctional and/or parole purposes. Click here to read a copy of the article by Alan Rosenthal, entitled Obtain a Copy of the Pre-Sentence Report.

Alan Rosenthal to speak at Syracuse Inaugural Symposium.
Alan Rosenthal, Director of CCA’s Justice Strategies, will join a prestigious panel at the Syracuse University Inaugural Symposium. He will discuss issues related to racial disparities and the criminal justice system. “Given the critical role of universities in our society, I am glad to join this conversation about racism and respecting humanity,” said Mr. Rosenthal. This event will be held in Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium at 1pm and broadcast a multiple sites across the campus and on Time Warner Cable.

Click here to read Mr. Rosenthal’s report on racial disparities in the local criminal justice system.

For more information on the Syracuse University Inaugural Symposium.

CCA's Onondaga CASA wins the 2004 MONY Life Insurance Company's VIP Award.  This award recognized CCA's outstanding volunteer programs.  The judges noted that CCA's programs offer high levels of training, attract volunteers with diverse backgrounds and skills as well as successfully win long term involvement and commitment from volunteers.  This award includes a contribution of $5,000.

"Predicting Retention of Drug Court Participants Using Event History Analysis." A new article in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation by CCA staff members Elaine M.Wolf and Kathryn A. Sowards, with Douglas A. Wolf Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 37(3):139-162.

This paper presents the results of a discrete-time event-history analysis of the relationships between client and program characteristics and the length and outcome of participation in a drug court program. The authors identify factors associated with both successful completion and premature termination. Having an African-American case manager, being older, having little criminal history, and not being a user of crack cocaine are strongly predictive of successfully completing the program. Predicted probabilities of successful completion ranged from 0.16, in the most pessimistic scenario, to 0.88 for the most optimistic scenario.

[Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

THE EXONERATED

CCA held a successful fundraiser on November 6th. More than 100 colleagues, judges, government officials and friends attended the event. At the pre-theatre reception NYS Senator Thomas K. Duane praised CCA's work and spoke about the importance of alternatives to incarceration.

After the play Marsha Weissman, Executive Director of CCA and Betsy Wilson of the NYS Capital Defenders Officer held a "talk-back" with the audience and discussed death penalty mitigation issues.

"It [Inner Lives] should be required reading for every person who works in the criminal justice system and prison systems..." Angela Davis

Based on interdisciplinary research that incorporates legal history, ethnography, sociology, and criminology, Inner Lives combines substantive analysis, photographic portraits, and narrative accounts from the women themselves. Inner Lives includes analysis of American criminal laws, sentencing reforms and social policies, and concludes with recommendations for reform to eradicate existing inequalities. The book also includes an appendix of sources, organizations, and information for women in prison.

To order Inner Lives: Profiles of African American Women In Prison visit www.nyupress.org. To arrange a book related event contact Paula C. Johnson at pcjohnson@law.syr.edu