The New York City Bar Association is calling on state and federal lawmakers to take action to reduce prison populations and has announced it will form a task force to advocate for legislation to address the issue.
Among the recommendations in an association report, released on Monday by the bar’s executive committee, are that lawmakers reduce or repeal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, expand alternative sentencing schemes like drug addiction programs, eliminate or reduce financial conditions for pretrial release, provide opportunities for non-violent offenders or misdemeanor offenders to seal their records and to raise the age of criminality from 16 years old to 18.
