(Note-- The Candles for Clemency vigil scheduled for April 18th has be en postponed as the Governor's office is negotiating on this issue. A new d ate will be announced)
FNYC is now a co-sponsor of the "Candl es for Clemency" movement. These are periodic vigils being held by progress ive groups from across the state to call for Governor Cuomo to grant clemen cy to those who are serving extended or unending sentences in state jails f or either questionable or minor charges. New York state has a long history of racism in jury trials, particularly upstate. Put simply, if you were bla ck and facing a jury in past decades in certain parts of the state, you wer e much more likely to get found guilty or to be denied proper representatio n. You were also more likely to get the severest of sentences that were pos sible. This, combined with mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines and hard line judges, has resulted in state prisons that are now packed with people, again vastly disproportionately those of color, who are either innocent or have served way beyond any reasonable sentence for whatever they were conv icted of doing.
Candles for Clemency calls for the Governor to start a clemency program and help give some of these people who have been locked up forever a second chance at life. As of this date, Governor Cuomo has is sued zero (0) clemencies during his years in office.
We are proud to join the National Organization of Women (NOW), Village Independent Democrat s, Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, the Jim Owles Democratic Club, the McMan us Democratic Club, Greater New York for Change (GNYC) and many others to p articipate in candlelight vigils to bring attention to this vitally importa nt issue.
The next candlelight vigil will be on Saturday, April 18th at Andrew Cuomo's home in Mt, Kisco. Details and transportation info will b e forthcoming.
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