Twenty years after it was eliminated in a cloud of scandal, and after two years of delay, a New York City commission empowered to release people early from jail sentences has been resurrected, the Daily News has learned.
The renewed Local Conditional Release Commission has been meeting every two weeks since early September and so far, city figures show, has approved the early release of 24 people who had been convicted and sentenced to serve up to a year at Rikers Island.
Probation Commissioner Juanita Holmes, who oversees the panel’s work, noted the people who are released are monitored by probation for a year after their release and have to adhere to certain conditions.
“The value is first of all we get people out to their families and to their respective employment and we’re getting them the resources and services they need,” said Holmes, who also sits in on the meetings. “Taking them out of that particular atmosphere is positive.”
Twenty-four releases from a jail population of 6,500 that has grown 21% since January 2022 may be a drop in the bucket, but it was a long time coming.
An aerial view of the Rikers Island prison complex. (Photo by Debra L. Rothenberg/Getty Images)
Back in 2004, the commission then made up of Giuliani and Bloomberg-era appointees allowed state Sen. Guy Velella out early four months into his one-year jail sentence for accepting bribes to funnel state contracts
A controversy erupted, leading to probes by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and the city Department of Investigation. The DOI found the panel violated its own rules in releasing Velella (R-Bronx) early.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg forced the four members of the commission to resign and appointed five new members, adding one, who voted to send Velella back to jail. In the end, Velella served about 180 days behind bars. The disgraced senator died in 2011 at age 66.
Fast-forward to 2020, when the efforts of the jail reform movement led to a bill passed by the City Council and adopted under the City Charter bringing the commission back to life. But Mayor Bill de Blasio never appointed anyone to the panel.
It took two more years for the Adams administration to appoint the now-required five members. In July 2023, with just three of the five in place, the administration rushed out a notice recruiting prospective panelists following a News story about the delay. Mayor Adams named the final two members to fill out the quintet last March.
The number of sentenced inmates in city jails fluctuates at around 400. In all, roughly 200 people have applied since summer for early release, the city’s figures show. Of those about 90 were ineligible.
Applicants have to fit certain criteria. No one serving time outside the city jails is accepted. Those with domestic violence convictions or sentences for child or sexual abuse, for example, would not qualify.
The crimes of conviction for those approved for release since September include low-level offenses like drug possession, petty larceny and grand larceny, along with lesser firearms possession offenses, Holmes said.
Of the 24 approved for release, 15 were actually released into the monitoring program, officials said.
Of the remaining nine, one release was pending. One was already out because he had served his sentence. Two were released to other programs. One was held on an unrelated warrant.
Four declined release, possibly because they had short periods left on their sentences and didn’t want to submit to monitoring.
The five-member panel is currently composed of City University Prof. Gregorio Mayers; George Goodmon, director of Manhattan Adult Services for the Probation Department; Fortune Society lawyer Lily Shapiro; David Fullard, a retired correction captain and professor at SUNY Empire State, and Maria Almonte-Weston of the Center for Justice Innovation.
They receive a stipend of $175 per meeting, city records show.
“They really put their heart into this,” said Holmes, who is a nonvoting member. “They are very concerned about the individual before them.”
Holmes said the city could do a better job of preparing people to go back into the community while they are still in jail. “If people were receiving these services in Rikers, getting what they need, they are in a better position when they are released,” she said.
In addition to the commission, people sentenced to jail can also be released early by the correction commissioner at her discretion, a process known as 6A. During the pandemic, a large number of people were released using this mechanism, but since then its use has slowed.
