The Green Party of New York State signed on to a statement released by 38 signatories addressing concerns with Governor Cuomo's criminal justice reform package. The statement is quoted below.

Statement by Criminal Justice Reform Groups Across New York

The governor's commitment to criminal justice reform is welcomed and needed. At his 2018 State of the State Address, the governor said, "Race and wealth should not be factors in our criminal justice system.” We wholeheartedly agree with the governor on this point and believe achieving this goal is an urgent priority for New York.

However, we have deep concerns about many of the details in the governor's current criminal justice reform package. These proposals are unsupportable as they currently stand. The proposals will not produce the outcomes he seeks to achieve, or reflect the values he seeks to uphold. While there are good components in some of the proposals, including the bail reform bill, critical
amendments are needed to make true reform. The discovery and speedy trial proposals are a major step backwards, potentially causing more wrongful convictions, higher rates of pretrial detention with sharp racial disparities, and even more case delays. These proposals are counterproductive to the progress New York has made in criminal justice reform to date.

We are united in the belief that the time for reform is now. We look forward to working with the governor and legislature to improve these proposals so that we may stand together in advancing reform.

To read the details of the improvements GPNY and other groups support, download the pdf here.