John MacKenzie seeks support for parole
Thursday, 4 August 2016
"We are here to give you a fair hearing..."
"I can assure you, Mr. MacKenzie, this was a random process to ensure fairness... we are here to give you a fair hearing."
~ Artwork by Gary Heeralal ~
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Tributes and material in support of John's case
A Challenge to New York’s Broken Parole Board, by the Editorial Board (New York Times, June 13 2016)
A long and pricey road to freedom for New York’s aging prisoners, by Khorri A. Atkinson (CUNY J-School, December 29 2016)
Activists hold vigil for man who died in prison after being denied parole, by Jacob Kaye (Queens Daily Eagle, August 9 2021)
After Being Denied Parole 10 Times, Elderly Prisoner Allegedly Commits Suicide at Fishkill Prison (Democracy Now, August 10 2016)
Beyond the Bars of Hopelessness: How We Can Revive Parole, by Jean Trounstine (Truthout, February 4 2017)
CA Statement on the Apparent Suicide of John MacKenzie (Correctional Association of New York, August 8 2016)
Calls Grow for NY Gov Cuomo to Reform Parole Board That Denies Release of Eligible Prisoners (Democracy Now, August 11 2016)
Calls to Reform the Parole Board System, by Capital Tonight Staff (Time Warner Cable News, August 8 2016)
Changing Parole Boards Is One Step Toward Weakening Mass Incarceration, by David George (Truth-Out, May 7 2018)
Comment on proposed parole regulations, by Kathy Manley (RAPP Campaign, 18 November 2016)
Commentary: In parole decisions, be guided by redemption, not revenge, by Peter Cook (Times Union, April 26 2021)
Convicted cop killer’s daughter says she received suicide note comparing Fishkill prison to Auschwitz days after dad’s death, by Keri Blakinger (New York Daily News, August 12 2016)
Cuomo must reshape state's Parole Board, by Laura Whitehorn and Dave George (Times Union, September 29 2018)
Cuomo's Parole Board Creates A 'System Of Hopelessness,' Advocates Say, by Victoria Law (Gothamist, August 7 2018)
Cuomo's scant use of clemency short-circuits justice: Prisons turned into 'cruel nursing homes' as Parole Board and governor fail to act, by Laura Whitehorn (LoHud, The Journal News, October 6 2016)
Death by Parole Board Cruelty (CURE-NY, August 6 2016)
Denied Parole 10 Times, John MacKenzie Found Dead In Cell After 41 Years In Prison: interview with attorney Kathy Manley (Law and Disorder Radio, August 15 2016)
Extracts from John MacKenzie's letter to the Prison Action Network, written three days before his death (in Building Bridges, July/August 2016)
False Hope and a Needless Death Behind Bars, editorial by Jesse Wegman (New York Times, September 6 2016)
Families of Fishkill Correctional Facility prisoners: COVID deaths unacceptable, Opinion by Alicia Barraza, Doug Van Zandt, Cerissa Harrell and Danielle MacKenzie (Lohud, February 1 2021)
Funeral Service for John Shido MacKenzie, by Chris Tyler MRO (Mountain Record, August 14 2016)
Grandpa, by Mia F. McDonagh, age 10, loving granddaughter of John MacKenzie (in Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network, November 2016)
If the Risk Is Low, Let Them Go, by Renee Feltz (The Indypendent, June 29 2016)
If the Risk is Low, Let Them Go: Comment, Renee Feltz (SocialistWorker.org, August 18 2016)
In Memoriam: John Shido MacKenzie, by Valerie Meiju Linet, MRO, and Chris Tyler, MRO (Mountain Record, 20 November 2016)
In Memory of John MacKenzie (in Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network, September 2016)
John MacKenzie and the Importance of the Release of Aging People in Prison, by Cameron Rasmussen (Center for Justice, Columbia University, August 16 2016)
John! Your Sacrifice Was Not In Vain, by Shawn Chappelle (in Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network, September 2016)
Judge Finds Parole Board in Contempt for Ignoring Order, by Joel Stashenko (New York Law Journal, June 1 2016)
Judges Express Outrage at Lawless Parole Board (Parole Justice New York, March 23 2016)
Lawmakers Fail to Fix New York’s Broken, Stingy Parole System, by Victoria Law (Village Voice, July 5 2017)
Letter from another of John MacKenzie’s many close friends, by J.R. at Fishkill (in Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network, October 2016)
Letter: Parole Board Process Needs Reform, by Laurie Dick (Highlands Current, August 22 2016)
Mac Memory (A Salute to John MacKenzie), by John "Jackie" Ruzas
Matter of Ferrante v. Stanford, 2019 NY Slip Op 3334 - NY: Appellate Div., 2nd Dept. 2019
Matter of MacKenzie v. Stanford, 2789/15
Merciless End for a Long Island Cop Killer, by Joseph Goldstein (New York Times, October 28 2016)
New York State Parole Board: Failures In Staffing and Performance: A Report by The Parole Preparation Project and The Release Aging People in Prison Campaign. (August 2018)
New York’s Parole System in Need of Repair, by Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP (July 2016)
New York’s Parole System Is ‘Broken,’ But Cuomo Can Help Fix It, by Victoria Law (Village Voice, June 5 2017)
NYS Judge Finds Parole Board in Contempt for Ignoring Order (CURE-NY's Blog, June 7 2016)
Opinion: The Human Cost of Politicized Parole Consideration, by Alexis Watts and Edward E. Rhine (Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Minnesota, April 16 2018)
Parole Board Held in Contempt After Failing to Follow State’s Parole Release Laws, by Alexis Watts and Edward Rhine (Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Minnesota, July 2016)
Parole Board ignores the capacity for change, by Barbara Hanson Treen (Times Union, August 26 2017)
Parole Board Murdered John MacKenzie! Catherine April Watters with attorney Kathy Manley and Akeem Browder (Peoples Internet Radio, August 26 2016)
Parole Justice After John MacKenzie, by the New York State Prisoner Justice Network (in Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network, September 2016)
Parole justice moves forward in New York State despite police union publicity stunt, by Naomi Jaffe (San Francisco Bay View, May 9 2019)
Parole reform movement gains traction statewide after years of advocacy, by Allen Arthur (Queens Daily Eagle, May 31 2019)
RAPP Members Testify at NYS Parole Board Business Meeting: video (Albany, April 24 2017)
Remembering John MacKenzie (in CURE-NY Summer/Fall 2016 Newsletter)
Say his name: John MacKenzie, August 8 demonstration in Harlem for parole reform in New York State (YouTube, August 9 2016)
Senator Gustavo Rivera comments on the nomination of Walter William Smith Jr. to the Parole Board, with particular reference to the case of John MacKenzie (YouTube, June 19 2017)
State ordered to grant cop killer new parole hearing, by John Ferro (Poughkeepsie Journal, June 1 2016)
Statement of The Legal Aid Society, Issued by Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice (August 8 2016)
Suicide of 70-Year-Old John MacKenzie After Tenth Parole Denial Illustrates Broken System, by Victoria Law (Village Voice, August 9 2016)
Testimony of Samuel Hamilton, Reentry Advocate, Brooklyn Defender Services, presented before New York Senators Luis Sepúlveda and Gustavo Rivera (Public Forum on New York State’s Parole Process, Structure of the Parole Board, and Data Indicating Systemic Bias in Parole Decisions, 27 November 2018)
The case of John MacKenzie against NYS Parole Board (in Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network, June 2016)
The New York State Parole Board: Failures in Staffing and Performance, Report by the Parole Preparation Project and The Release Aging People in Prison Campaign (RAPP Campaign, 14 August 2018)
The NYS Parole Board Killed John MacKenzie (RAPP, August 6 2016)
The Parole System Is Broken. Can Anyone Fix It? How politics and paranoia contribute to mass incarceration, by Rebecca McCray (TakePart, September 10 2016)
There Are No More Excuses: Protesters Demand That Cuomo Staff The Parole Board, by Aviva Stahl (Gothamist, April 5 2019)
Traumatized to Death: The Cumulative Effects of Serial Parole Denials, by Richard Rivera 23 CUNY Law Review F. 25 (2020)
True justice reform can't ignore people convicted of violent crimes, by Yazmine Nichols (Sojourners, December 16 2020)
John MacKenzie's commentaries
Auschwitz to Attica - Methodologies of Psychological Abuse, by John MacKenzie (Parole News, July 2013)
Clarifying the Legislative Intent: invalidating the use of "community opposition" in the Parole Decision Process, by John MacKenzie (Parole News, August 2016)
Site links
John MacKenzie's home page
John MacKenzie's request to you
"We are here to give you a fair hearing..."
Sample letter for the Parole Board
Learning Compassion in Shackles
Testimonial to John's character and to his work on the Victims' Awareness Program
Commendable Behavior Report for John
Further testimonials to John's character
John's Correctional History (Clinton 1976-Attica 1980)
John's Correctional History (Green Haven 1985-1999)
John's Correctional History (Woodbourne 1999 to the present day)
Related Material
‘I Want to Live It Out,’ Says Brink’s Driver Denied Parole, by Jim Dwyer (New York Times, May 3 2017)
A New Chapter in Parole for New York State? An Amsterdam News article, “Exposing the New York State Parole Board,” has an encouraging ending. (RAPP Campaign, June 8 2017)
A voice for criminal justice reform: former priest, county lawmaker tracks state parole hearing results, by Rick Karlin (Times Union, December 25 2012)
Advocates Recite Shortcomings of N.Y. Parole Review Process, by John Caher (New York Law Journal, December 5 2013)
Current DOCCS Practices/Parole Practices, by Cheryl L. Kates Benman Esq. and Deb Bozydaj (CURE-NY Position Paper, January 13 2015)
Distortion of the Parole Board’s Function, by Jim Murphy (in CURE-NY Newsletter, Fall 2010)
Even Model NYS Inmates Face Steep Barriers to Parole, by Bill Hughes (City Limits, 17 September 2014)
Exposing the New York State Parole Board, by The Northeast Political Prisoner Coalition (Amsterdam News, June 8 2017)
Governor Cuomo Announces Proposal of New Regulations to Ensure Consideration of Risk and Rehabilitation During Parole Decisions (Albany, NY, October 18 2016)
Hard-Won Parole Board Reforms Under Attack in New York, by Kanya D’Almeida (Rewire News, Apr 6 2018)
Older inmates have paid their debts. Are we willing to forgive them? by Mary Buser (America: The Jesuit Review, August 9 2018)
Parole Board Drags Its Feet on COMPAS (New York Law Journal, 21 January 2016)
Parole Reform Groups Say Proposed New Rules Don't Go Far Enough, by Joel Stashenko (New York Law Journal, December 13 2016)
Restorative Justice 2, by Jim Murphy (referring to the success of John MacKenzie's Victims' Awareness Program) (in CURE-NY Newsletter, Winter 2003-2004)
US Parole Activists Aim to Overhaul a Failing System, by Jean Trounstine (Truthout, September 30 2017)
Zen Mountain Monastery
Organizations
Building Bridges: the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network
CURE-NY (Criminal Justice Reform: Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants)
CURE-NY's Blog
Center for Community Alternatives
Center for Court Innovation
Cheryl L. Kates Esq.
Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc.
Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR)
Correctional Association of New York
Fortune Society
Harlem Community Justice Center
ICARE (Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment)
Kathy E. Manley Esq.
NYS Coalition for Rehabilitation and Reentry
NYS Parole Reform Campaign: regular updates are given in Building Bridges, the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network
NYS Prisoner Justice Network
New York City Board of Correction
New York Official Reports: New York State Law Reporting Bureau
New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
New York State Bill Search
New York State Defenders Association
New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, "Parolee Lookup"
New York State Parole Board Interview Calendar
New York State Parole Board Members
New York State Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee Meetings and Updates
Open Legislation: Browse, search and share legislative information from the New York State Senate
Osborne Association
Parole Justice Now!
Parole News: information relevant to parole reform in NYS
Prisoner Reentry Institute: John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Prisoners Legal Services of New York
Re-thinking Reentry
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP)
The Fancy Broccoli Show
The Marshall Project
The Riverside Church Prison Ministry
The Sentencing Project
Vera Institute of Justice: New York State Parole Project
Reports, articles and other resources
Administrative Segregation, Degrees of Isolation, and Incarceration: A National Overview of State and Federal Correctional Policies, June 2013
Boxed In: The True Cost of Extreme Isolation in New York's Prisons, by Scarlet Kim, Taylor Pendergrass and Helen Zelon (New York Civil Liberties Union, 2012)
Commentary on Parole, by Edward Hammock, former Chairman of the NY State Board of Parole and James Seelandt, Client Advocate with the Bronx Defenders
COMPAS Risk & Need Assessment System: Selected questions posed by inquiring agencies, January 14, 2010
COMPAS Risk Assessment: The Real Deal, by Cheryl L. Kates, May 8 2012
Days Without End: Life Sentences and Penal Reform, by Marie Gottschalk (Prison Legal News, 2012)
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, where is it heading? (Excerpts of testimony at NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Correction.) November 20 2011
Dismantling Parole: a Special Edition of Pro Se, published by Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, 2006
Employing Your Mission: Building cultural competence in Reentry Service Agencies through the hiring of individuals who are formerly incarcerated and/or in recovery, by the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Fortune Society, June 2011
Ending Parole Abuses – Reuniting Families: The Riverside Church Prison Ministry’s Campaign to Overhaul the NYS Parole System (November 2013)
History of Parole in New York State
It's about time: aging prisoners, increasing costs, and geriatric release, by Tina Chiu (Vera Institute of Justice, April 2010)
Merger of Department of Correctional Services and Division of Parole: Mission Statement, April 2011
New Sentencing Model to Meet the Challenge of Reentry and Public Safety, by Alan Rosenthal, Marsha Weissman, and Elaine Wolf. (Published by the Center for Community Alternatives.)
New York State Division of Parole: News and Press Releases
New York State Division of Parole: Newsletters
New York State Executive Law 259-259r: State Division of Parole
New York State Parole Handbook: questions and answers concerning parole release and supervision
New York Still in Need of Parole Reform, by Alan Rosenthal and Patricia Warth (Atticus, Volume 24 Number 1, Spring 2012)
New York’s Aging Prison Population, by Karen L. Murtagh (Pro Se Vol. 23 No. 2, April 2013)
New York’s Broken Parole System (New York Times, February 16 2014)
No Exit: the expanding use of life sentences in America, by Ashley Nellis and Ryan S. King, published by the Sentencing Project, July 2009
NYS Coalition for Rehabilitation and Reentry: Restorative Platform Message - Parole (November 6, 2007)
NYS Parole Board: Do the Right Thing (RAPP Campaign, 18 November 2016)
NYSACDL Supports Call For Parole Reform (Atticus, Volume 23 Number 1, Winter 2011)
Old Behind Bars: The Ageing Prison Population in the United States. Human Rights Watch, January 2012
One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections, published by the Pew Center on the States, 2009
Parole and Politics Shouldn't Mix, by Barbara Hanson Treen (New York Law Journal, 30 December 2013)
Parole Release Decisions and the Rule of Law, by Alan Rosenthal and Patricia Warth (Atticus, Summer 2013, Vol. 25, No. 2, p. 10-16)
Parole Review Process Has Serious Shortcomings, by Scott Paltrowitz (Correctional Association of New York, December 6 2013)
Parole, Politics and Public Opinion: excerpts from an article by Eddie Ellis, published in CURE-NY Newsletter, Spring 2008 (page 4)
Parole, Prisoner's Rights: articles, reports and research links published by the New York State Defenders Asscociation
Policy Report: an analysis of current NYS Parole Policy, by Cheryl L Kates Esq
Prison panel calls for "revoking" parole. Editorial on the final report of the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform, by Jarrett Murphy, February 9, 2009
Professor Philip Genty Testifies on Parole Procedures Before State Assembly's Correction Committee (Columbia Law School, December 6 2013) Includes full text of Professor Genty's testimony
Profile of the Graziano v. Pataki civil rights case, produced by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
Public Comments in Support of Parole Reform (Correctional Association of New York, January 2014)
Public Hearing before New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform, testimony of Professor Philip M. Genty, November 13 2007
Recidivism Among Parolees in New York City, 2001-2008, by Bryn A. Herrschaft with Zachary Hamilton, Center for Court Innovation, November 2011
Recommendations for Parole Reform in New York State: discussion held by the Prisoner Reentry Institute, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Research Synthesis of Reliability and Validity of COMPAS, published by Northpointe Institute for Public Management, Inc., September 2007
Restoring Fairness to Parole: transcript of the panel discussion by the New York City Bar Association
Review for Release: Juvenile Offenders, State Parole Practices, and the Eighth Amendment, by Sarah French Russell (Quinnipiac University School of Law, January 1 2014) (Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 89, No. 1, 2014)
Safe and Fair Evaluations (SAFE) Parole Act
State of Recidivism: the Revolving Door of America's Prisons, published by the PEW Center on the States, April 13 2011
Testimony of Tina M. Stanford, Chairwoman NYS Board of Parole, before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, Wednesday December 4 2013
The Future of Sentencing in New York State: Recommendations for Reform, by the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform, January 30, 2009
The Parole Hearing Data Project: an educational tool for criminal justice research built on examining parole hearing data
Trends in U.S. Corrections: a visual tool that provides a compilation of key developments in the criminal justice system over the past several decades, published by The Sentencing Project, May 18, 2012
US Prison System Resembling Huge Geriatrics Ward, by Kanya DAlmeida, IPS News (Truthout, March 3 2014)
Written Submission to NYS Sentencing Commission, by Cheryl L. Kates, December 2007
Index
Attica Correctional Facility
(1)
Children’s Story Book Project
(2)
Clinton Correctional Facility
(1)
Commendable Behavior Report
(1)
Correctional History
(4)
Fishkill Correctional Facility
(2)
Green Haven Correctional Facility
(1)
John MacKenzie seeks support for parole
(10)
Judge Maria G. Rosa
(1)
Matthew Giglio
(4)
New York State Parole Board
(2)
Parole Denials
(2)
Parole Hearing
(1)
Parole Reform
(2)
Political Prisoner
(2)
Testimonials
(4)
Victims Awareness Program
(5)
Woodbourne Correctional Facility
(2)
When yesterday's flickering
stars fade into tomorrow's
light...
When a lifetime of memories
flash before your eyes...
As the golden years
are upon you,
remember me...
For I have spent a lifetime
remembering you.
— by John Shido MacKenzie
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