In our previous coverage of Richard Stahursky’s case, we explored the systemic failures that defined his decades of incarceration. While Richard has accepted responsibility for his actions, his journey highlights a critical question: what is the purpose of our correctional system if not to offer a path toward restoration? In this follow-up piece, his loved one Arimela provides an update on their continued fight for basic human dignities, including Richard’s right to pursue a

The following is the transcript of a speech given by Jonathan Gradess (born August 5, 1947, died October 2, 2019) at the Seminar in Criminal Law of the Nassau County Bar Association on October 28, 1978. Gradess, who served as the director of the New York State Defenders Association from 1978 to 2017, was a towering figure in New York’s public defense community, and one of the most principled voices in American criminal justice reform. A lifelong advocate for the poor and marg

Richard Stahursky is serving a life sentence due to a series of compounding factors, including a severely abusive childhood, untreated mental illness, and repeated failures by the criminal justice system to provide effective legal counsel and necessary mental healthcare. His story is told here by his loved one, Arimela. A man in chains converses with a woman by William Hamilton (London, 1751–1801). “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”  As I read a letter

Gov. Kathy Hochul should be commended for bringing the illegal wildcat strike by prison guards to a conclusion within the law while...

There is now a growing movement in New York State and throughout the country for criminal  justice reforms that will reverse a decades...

The following is a testimony given by Frank Zarro before the Maine legislature in April 2025 Dear Senator Beebee-Center, Representative...

The Legislature should take steps to create a new, independent public defense system that's financed by social impact bonds. “Of all the...

Our existing system churns the same people back into its prisons, year after year, costing hundreds of millions of dollars that would be...

The ideal of homeownership is deeply imbedded in American history and culture. In the early Republic, many believed that owning land and...

The following was a virtual talk given by Frank Zarro for the End Mass Incarceration event. The American justice system is an $80 Billion...

As we continue to address the many complex issues involving New York’s badly broken public defense system, we have to start by reducing the problems to their fundamentals. If one looks closely enough at public policy problems, answers and solutions can usually be found by correcting long-held political misperceptions, examining the basic structure of the system in question, and finding the money to get it right. MISPERCEPTIONS The vast majority of public defense clients are n