Learn the facts from the myths and check your eligibility In New York, the general rule is that you can vote after incarceration for a felony conviction while you are on probation, or once you have completed parole. In these cases, your voting rights are… Read More
BPI Blog
Tag: Criminal Justice Reform
A Call to Action: Merit Board Eligibility
To the BPI community, Since early this year, BPI has been working with New York lawmakers to change Merit Board eligibility criteria so that incarcerated students with convictions classified as non-violent can be eligible for early release based on earning college credits. I am… Read More
Remembering David Kaiser
After a prolonged battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer, we lost our friend David Kaiser last week. Only fifty years old, David leaves behind his wife, two daughters and a challenge to all of us. At BPI, we are proud that David counted… Read More
COVID Community Forums
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, BPI has hosted a series of virtual forum conversations for the alumni community with leading public health and social justice experts. Below is the roster of experts and scholars who have joined BPI in these conversations to date. June 8th The Role… Read More
A Note to Alumni
Dear BPI alumni community, The ongoing killing of African-Americans by police — sworn to serve and protect — could not have been expected to continue so long without dramatic response. Three months into the COVID disaster, the policing crisis has forced itself to the fore yet… Read More
Alumni Opinion: Immediate Action Needed for people in NY Jails and Prisons
This reflection by Darren Mack '13 is part of the Community Voices op-ed series for the BPI Public Health Journal. Through the COVID-19 crisis, BPI alumni will be posting reflections about their work and response to the virus here. This is the first in… Read More
Appeal to Governor Cuomo
On March 20th, our executive director joined leaders of a dozen other criminal justice agencies in New York -- all members of the Governor's Reentry Council -- urging Governor Cuomo to use his power and preempt a COVID crisis within the state prison system.… Read More
The Right to Learn Behind Bars: Encouraging College in Prison Reduces Recidivism and Helps Society
BPI alumnus Dyjuan Tatro ’18, government affairs officer for the Bard Prison Initiative, recently penned an op-ed on the value of investing public funds in college in prison. This article, reproduced below, first appeared in the New York Daily News. Read the full article below: The… Read More
Governor Cuomo Voices Support for BPI
At Wilborn Church in Albany - before dozens of elected officials including NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio - Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to restore college-in-prison on a broad scale. Highlighting Bard's work and the accomplishments of two BPI alumni in the audience, the… Read More