New York Lawmaker Pushes Parole System Overhaul

A proposal in the New York state Legislature would overhaul the state’s parole system to shift its emphasis on technical violations such as missing curfew to a series of incentives that reward good behavior.

The bill announced Tuesday is sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Walter Mosley, of Brooklyn, and is based on research from Columbia University and advocates for criminal justice reform.

Mosley says current rules sent too many former inmates back to prison for technical violations, undermining their attempts to rejoin the community, breaking up families and adding to the state’s correctional costs.

His bill would prohibit certain minor parole violations from being used to send people back to prison, and instead create a series of incentives that would shorten parole if a parolee makes progress in reintegrating into society.