|
CONTRIBUTING TO PLS
Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York (PLS) is a private, not-for-profit corporation that relies primarily upon New York State for its funding. PLS’ support from New York State is roughly half of what it was in 1997 and has remained stagnant since 2001. Despite this, PLS continues to provide desperately needed legal services to New York’s state prison population, although we have been forced to become more selective regarding the cases we accept for investigation.
If you wish to support PLS,
please send your contribution for PLS to:
Karen Murtagh-Monks , Executive Director
Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York
41 State Street, Suite M112, Albany, NY 12207
Or donate online now, via Paypal:
All contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO TO HELP PLS
ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF PLS
1. Contact the Governor.
Urge him to join with the Assembly and Senate in funding Prisoners’ Legal Services. You can contact the Governor by phone, e-mail or letter:
Hon. Andrew M. Cuomo
Executive Chamber
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
If you call, tell the person you wish to leave a message for the Governor. Keep your message brief but strongly advocate for a prompt budget that includes funding for Prisoners’ Legal Services. Keep calling until a budget for 2011-2012 has been passed. Even if the press reports that serious talks are taking place, keep calling until the budget is passed.
The following is a suggested message: “Please tell the Governor that funding for PLS is vital to public safety and public health and is a sound economic investment. In these tough economic times it is critical that the Governor show leadership on the issues that are important to the safety and economic stability of this State. The 2011-2012 budget must include adequate funding for Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York and for other legal aid programs that provide civil legal services to low income citizens.”
2. Contact the Leaders of the Assembly and the Senate.
Speaker Sheldon Silver: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Sheldon-Silver
Albany Office
LOB 932
Albany, NY 12248
518-455-3791
E-mail: silver@assembly.state.ny.us
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos: http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/dean-g-skelos
Albany Office
Legislative Office Building, Room 909
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3171
E-mail: skelos@nysenate.gov
3. Contact the Chairs of Important Assembly and Senate Committees.
We have strong support from the following influential Assembly and Senate members. Call or write them on our behalf.
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, Chair, Committee on Correction: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=035
Albany Office
LOB 526
Albany, NY 12248
518-455-4561
Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Crime Vicitms, Crime and Corrections: http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/ruth-hassell-thompson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 707 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2061
Fax: (518) 426-6998
Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Crime Victims, Crime and Correction; Children and Families: http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/velmanette-montgomery
Albany Office
944 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3451
Fax: (518) 426-6854
Senator John Defransico, Chair, Senate Finance Committee; Crime Victims, Crime and Correction: http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/john-defrancisco/contact
Albany Office
416 Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3511
4. Contact your Local Assembly Members and Senator.
If you do not know who your Assembly or Senate representative is go to http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/, type in your address and hit enter. Information on your elected representatives will appear on the right-hand side of your screen. If you click on the name of your representative, you will be able to access contact information for that person.
For the past fifteen years, PLS has been funded through an Assembly “add” to the Governor’s budget. Support from rank and file members of the Assembly is very important in making the legislative leaders see that PLS has broad support. Particularly important are Assembly members in locations where PLS has an office. When you call or write their offices, identify yourself as a constituent.
5. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, especially in locations where PLS has an office.
Local education and pressure makes a difference. Legislators monitor the local papers to see what their constituents are concerned about. Let them know about PLS and the loss of needed legal services to inmates. Sample letters:
#1 SAMPLE LTE:
I write to encourage the NYS’ governmental leaders to fund Prisoners' Legal Services ("PLS"). Created in the wake of the Attica riot to provide prisoners with non-violent conflict resolution and meaningful access to the courts, for 35 years PLS has fulfilled its purpose. And in this time of economic crisis, when everyone is being asked to tighten their belts, this is exactly the time to keep an organization like this around.
Why? Because PLS saved NYS taxpayers over $7.8 million dollars in 2009-2010 by correcting jail time and sentencing errors. True, PLS answers over 16,000 annual requests for assistance and its work has improved prison conditions and provided prisoners with a mechanism to peacefully air their grievances thus helping to prevent another costly prison uprising, but those cost savings are hard to measure. What is not hard to measure is the cost to the State when a person is held, sometimes years past his scheduled release date. We are not talking about letting prisoners out early as is being done in many other States; we are talking about making sure taxpayers are not paying to keep people in prison when they should be out.
With the budget shortfall facing this State, the 40th anniversary of Attica upon us, reported increases in prisoner suicides throughout the State and continued increases in prisoner complaints, now is not the time to discontinue funding a program that protects the public while saving the State millions of dollars!
Find PLS at: www.plsny.org or on Facebook: Prisoners' Legal Services of New York.
#2 SAMPLE LTE:
I am writing today to encourage the New York State Legislature to include funding for Prisoners' Legal Services ("PLS"). Without funding, PLS will be forced to close its doors, layoff all 29 of its dedicated employees and will no longer be able to provide critical services to New York State.
Forty years after the Attica riots and their devastating results, New Yorkers are still aware of just how critical it is to provide non-violent conflict resolution. PLS was created to provide exactly that - access to non-violent conflict resolution, competent legal advice, and representation for all of New York States 57,000 incarcerated men and women.
Their dedicated work enables PLS to respond to over 16,000 annual requests for assistance, improve prison conditions, correct jail time and sentencing errors, provide inmates with adequate legal advice, and reverse wrongful disciplinary actions. Consequently, PLS has created a safer and more cost effective prison system by saving the State millions of dollars, reducing tensions in the prisons, avoiding unnecessary pro-se litigation, and contributing to the successful re-entry of inmates across the State. In fact, PLS saved New York taxpayers over $4.3 million in 2009 and over $3.5 million in 2010 by correcting jail time and sentencing errors. That is nearly $8 million in two years alone.
With the 40th anniversary of Attica upon us, reported increases in prisoner suicides throughout the State and continued increases in prisoner complaints, it would be the cruelest of ironies for New York State to discontinue funding such an essential service as PLS.
Find PLS at: www.plsny.org or on Facebook: Prisoners' Legal Services of New York.
#3 SAMPLE LTE
Dear Editor:
In these tough economic times, as the Governor and the Legislature deliberate over the 2011-2012 state budget, it is essential that they make funding decisions based on an informed analysis of what programs best serve the economic and public safety needs of this State. Many not-for-profit agencies that provide civil legal services for low income citizens, community mental health programs, re-entry programs, criminal defense services for low income citizens, and legal services to state prison inmates have seen either decreases or stagnation in their funding over the past 15 years. And yet, many of these programs are essential to ensuring public safety and, when funded properly, often save the State money. Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York (PLS) is one such organization.
PLS has provided civil legal services to indigent inmates in all New York State prisons since 1976, on issues involving access to medical and mental health care, sexual abuse, excessive force, challenges to lengthy sentences to solitary confinement and parole and other sentence matters. PLS is a critical and integral part of the State’s criminal justice system.
As a not-for-profit, however, PLS has repeatedly been a victim of state budget cuts and inadequate funding. After nearly going out of business in 1998 when then-Governor Pataki vetoed all funding for PLS, it rebuilt its program and has continued to provide essential legal services to thousands of inmates in our New York State prisons. However, PLS was not included in the 2010-2011 budget and was recently forced to lay off 2/3 of its staff. Presently PLS only has 8 attorneys to provide representation to over 57,000 inmates.
The Governor and the legislative leaders must pass a budget which provides adequate funding for state contract agencies like PLS.
#4 SAMPLE LTE
Dear Editor:
I write to encourage Governor Cuomo to fund Prisoners' Legal Services ("PLS"). PLS was created after the Attica riot to provide prisoners with non-violent conflict resolution and meaningful access to the courts.
PLS answers over 16,000 annual requests for assistance. For 35 years, PLS has been a safety valve for our prisons. By improving prison conditions, correcting jail time and sentencing errors and providing prisoners with a mechanism to air their grievances, PLS has created a safer, more cost effective prison system. In 2009-2010, PLS saved NY taxpayers over $7.8 million by correcting jail time and sentencing errors.
With the 40th anniversary of Attica upon us, reported increases in prisoner suicides throughout the State and continued increases in prisoner complaints, now is not the time to discontinue funding such an essential service as PLS.
GUIDELINES FOR LTE’S:
For all LTE’s please include your full name, address, and contact information. Also, please note that your letter may be edited for length.
For information on submitting a letter to the editor to the Times Union, click here.
For information on submitting a letter to the editor to the New York Times, click here.
To send a letter to the editor to the Journal News email: letters@lohud.com
To send a letter to the editor to the Buffalo News please Write to Everybody's Column, The Buffalo News, One News Plaza, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY, 14240, or fax to 716-856-5150. You may also send an email to LetterToEditor@buffnews.com. You can also read the Submission Guidelines on this page. Every single letter which is printed in the paper is verified by telephone, so be sure to sign your letter and include your address and a day-time phone number.
To send a letter to the editor to the Watertown Daily Times please email: letters@wdt.net
7. Visit our Facebook page !
8. PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS, CO-WORKERS, FRIENDS AND ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN AND ARE WILLING TO ACT NOW TO ENSURE THAT PLS CAN CONTINUE TO PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES TO PRISONERS.
|
