Clemency Coalition of NY

This New Yorkers are calling for ! Governor Kathy Hochul, you have the power to bring relief to New York families and communities by fulfilling your promise for a year-round, transparent clemency process.

🚨🚨🚨URGENT ACTION: We are in the LAST DAY of our week of action urging our state Assembly Members to support the Clemency Justice Act (S222A/A155)! Join us for the FINAL phone zap session today at 2pm 🕑

If you are not able to join the phone zap, you can still make the calls and send the emails on your own!

Thank you for your support and let’s end this legislative session strong 💪🏾💪

🚨🚨🚨URGENT ACTION: We are in Day 2 of our week of action! Help us pass the Clemency Justice Act by contacting our Assembly Members and asking for their support before the end of this legislative session. Our second phone zap session is TODAY at 2pm 🕑

If you are not able to join us for the phone zap, not to worry! You can still contact legislators on your own time.

🚨🚨🚨URGENT ACTION: The Clemency Coalition of New York is doing one final big push to pass the Clemency Justice Act (S222A/A155) before the end of this legislative session and we need your help! Join us this week for 1 hour phone zap sessions as we contact Assembly Members and ask for their support of the bill. First phone zap session is TODAY at 2pm 🕑

If you cannot join us for the phone zap sessions, you can still make the calls and send the emails on your own!

The Foundation was grateful to participate in the annual conference hosted by Grantee Partner Center for Justice at Columbia University this past weekend.​

Our "A Cradle for Our Grief" workshop united community members to combat structural violence, focusing on effective strategies employed by activists and organizers to address harm and challenge dominant institutions.​

Special thanks to The Foundation's Tiffany McFadden, Program Officer for Justice Initiatives, and to our Grantee Partner panelists:​

🔹 Alethea Taylor, Executive Director of Hour Children, Inc.
🔹 Razelle Townsend, Grants Administrator for The Alliance of Families for Justice
🔹 Fanta Fofana, Lead Organizer for the Clemency Coalition of NY

Their expertise illuminated crucial paths for healing and advocacy. Join the movement to keep these conversations going!​ nywf.org​

The Clemency Coalition of NY wishes Governor Kathy Hochul a Happy Valentine's Day! There's no better day to show your care than using your clemency powers today to bring relief to New Yorkers whose clemency applications are still awaiting your response. bit.ly/Valentines-Clemency

We’ll be up in Albany on Feb 6th along with our friends from New Hour who are there to advocate for passage of the CARE Act (S7132/A7630). RSVP here for New Hour’s advocacy day: bit.ly/ItsAboutTheBabies24

What do we want?
Clemency!
When do we want it?
NOW!

Join us in Albany on February 6th for a day of action to fight for passage of the Clemency Justice Act (S222/A155) this legislative session. RSVP here: bit.ly/ClemencyAdvocacyDay

Breakfast and lunch as well as transportation between NYC and Albany will be provided!

Congratulations to the 16 people who received clemency from Governor Kathy Hochul this holiday season! While we celebrate these 16 community members being granted clemency, we also stand in solidarity with the many other New Yorkers who are still waiting for their justice. Governor Hochul must stick to her promise and commit to granting more clemencies more frequently. !

Act now: tell Governor Kathy Hochul happy holidays and urge her to think about the families of so many New Yorkers who continue to be heartbroken and who eagerly await the grants of clemency that was promised to New Yorkers! See the short script and contact information 👇
bit.ly/home4holidaysletter

Tracy J. White, Jr. is a father who has been separated from his son for far too long. Governor Kathy Hochul, you can reunite Tracy and so many other NYers with their loved ones this holiday season by granting them all clemency.

Kristian Hansen, AKA Frit, has been incarcerated for over 27 years. Governor Kathy Hochul, you can reunite Kristian with his family and community again by granting him clemency.

Like many other immigrants, Mr. Stewart faces forced separation from his loving family and his community. Governor Kathy Hochul, you have the power to prevent further harm from occurring to Mr. Stewart and his loved ones by granting him the pardon he needs.

Shakoure Charpientier’s life, just like that of Assia, Ricky, and Christopher, hangs in the balance as he awaits clemency. Governor Kathy Hochul, you can prevent further harm to Shakoure by granting him a pardon so that he can remain in the only country he has ever known.

this holiday season! Governor Kathy Hochul, with just a signature you can transform Christopher Simmons’ life with clemency by bringing him home to his family and community!

Ricky Williams is a New Yorker who is facing deportation to a country he hasn’t been to since he was a child. A pardon can protect him from being exiled and forcefully separated from his family and the only home he’s known for decades. Governor Kathy Hochul, thousands of New Yorkers like Ricky who deserve to be with their families this holiday season are waiting for clemency.

This holiday season, thousands of New Yorkers such as Assia continue to face deportation and/or prolonged sentences, preventing them from being with their loved ones. With her signature, Governor Kathy Hochul can transform their lives and reunite families. I’m urging Governor Hochul to grant clemency to Assia and thousands of other New Yorkers who await clemency so they can finally come .

As we celebrate the holiday season and gather with loved ones, we’re reminded that our country’s violent immigration and carceral systems continue to separate thousands of New Yorkers from their families and communities.

For Assia, Ricky, Christopher, and other New Yorkers who face deportations and de facto life sentences, this forced separation is no accident. They are the direct result of our immigration and carceral systems and policies that are fundamentally anti-Black and designed to impose continuous punishment on immigrants and people of color.

The Clemency Coalition of New York is asking you to participate in the Home for the Holidays Action. How can you take action?

1️⃣ Take a photo of you with your loved ones
2️⃣ Fill out the Google Form and upload your photo
3️⃣ Share our social media graphics and urge others to participate

bit.ly/Home4HolidaysToolkit2023

Governor Hochul just granted clemency to 13 New Yorkers. Congratulations to these 13 community members! We urge the Governor to grant more clemencies each year and to stand by her commitment to grant clemencies on an on-going basis.

Happy early Governor Kathy Hochul! Every day is a good day to reunite families, and now is the perfect time to use your clemency powers to bring relief to New Yorkers whose clemency applications are still awaiting your response.

Annetta Williams is a mother who lives with the day to day fear that her oldest child, Ricky Williams, could be deported to Antigua & Barbuda at any moment. As a 59 year old New Yorker, Ricky left Antigua as a young child and has called New York home for over 50 years. Due to a childhood history of abuse, Ricky has struggled with substance abuse for most of his life, which led him to receive low-level convictions that are the grounds for his deportation. If deported, Ricky would be harmed on many levels – he would be separated from his entire family who are US citizens and live in the US, he would relocate to a country he has no ties to, and he would be deprived of medical treatment he needs to become healthy.

For Annetta, Ricky’s potential deportation is a burden that has been on her mind all these years. She worries that Ricky would be deported to a place he knows nothing about and where he knows no one at all. Ricky has not returned to Antigua since he left as a child, and New York is all that he knows.

“Ricky is my first and oldest son. I had him as a teenager, and he’s always had a sweet, quiet, and strong soul,” says Annetta. If Ricky were to receive a pardon, “it would be a blessing. I would be happy, confident, and assured. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it. He could get a new lease on life. My life would be complete to see him get pardoned and have legal status so he can stay in this country.”

Click our link in bio. Sign the petition in support of Ricky’s pardon: bit.ly/PardonRickyPetition

New York Must Pass the Clemency Justice Act!

For too long, New York’s clemency process has been shameful – it’s confusing, not transparent, and ineffective at protecting New Yorkers against deportation and prolonged prison sentences.

New Yorkers deserve a clemency process that works and will free our people.

Sign the petition in support of the Clemency Justice Act!

Assia is a mother who has been separated from her children for years. Assia moved to New York when she was 15 years old from Panama. While pregnant at the age of 19, Assia was in an abusive relationship and attempted to gather enough money to leave her situation. She committed robbery, which led to the death of a woman. Assia was arrested and sentenced to 18 years to life, while she was pregnant with her next child, who she eventually gave birth to at Rikers.

After serving 17 years, Assia was resentenced under the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) in April 2021 and was granted immediate release. Unfortunately, she was held for two weeks until ICE came to detain her. She was given a final order of deportation and deported to Panama after living in the US for over 2 decades. Her entire family and support system is in the US, and her two children have been waiting for her return home since her initial arrest.

“I am nothing without my children, they are my identity, I am a mom. I dream of the opportunity to return to the US to reunite with my children. They waited their entire lives to be with me, and when it seemed we finally had that chance, I was once again snatched from their lives. It pains me every day…I don’t believe I deserve anything, but my children deserve their mom. They have suffered enough.” - Assia

Donna’s story: Donna’s son, Christopher, lived in the United States since the age of seven, brought here as a lawful permanent resident by his U.S. citizen stepfather. Eager to become a citizen, he applied to naturalize in 2016 only for it to trigger his detention and deportation based on the conviction from his youth.

“My son did his time. He’s a great father, a great son, he is everything to me. I have been impacted in every way - emotionally, financially, medically. After all these years, it only gets harder every day. My greatest joy would be to have my son back home.” - Donna
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As we honor our mothers this Mother’s Day, thousands of New York’s mothers and children continue to be separated as a result of deportation and mass incarceration. Clemency can help end this cruel separation of families.

This week, we’re honoring some of New York’s mothers who seek clemency for themselves or their children, and demanding clemency justice so their families can be reunited.

Join us in calling for clemency justice for New York’s mothers this week – sign our petitions and share our daily posts!

This Mothers Day we're urging Governor Kathy Hochul to use her clemency powers to bring relief to those whose clemency applications are still pending, so mothers, mother figures, and their children know whether they have another shot at liberty + family unification.

Clemency Coalition Day of Action + Bangsokol Ceremony to honor those who have passed in NY prisons and Immigration Detention Centers