ALBANY, NY – FWD.us New York State Director for Criminal Justice Reform Rodney Holcombe issued the following statement today in response to the Senate’s counter-proposal presenting criminal justice reform rollbacks during budget negotiations:

“As state leaders enter into the final days and hours of budget negotiations, we are very troubled by the continued efforts to roll back critical reforms that have been working to end the criminalization of poverty and children. The Senate’s counter-proposals to the Governor’s plan still includes provisions like the ones that inexplicably target DATs – the lowest level nonviolent charges. This simply cannot be defended as advancing public safety. These kinds of rollbacks will, however, send our state decades backward on justice. We urge legislative leaders to follow the facts and reject the fear-based politics that delivered mass incarceration to begin with.”