The Legal Aid Society has filed an emergency clemency application on behalf of Reginald Randolph, a 58-year-old client who has spent over 800 days on Rikers Island after a conviction for stealing cold medicine, as reported by The Appeal.

The City’s jails are experiencing a full-blown humanitarian crisis. In addition to the spread of COVID-19, a wave of mass absenteeism of corrections staff has exacerbated long-standing problems, creating an extraordinarily dangerous environment for people in custody. Mr. Randloph says he has lost almost 40 pounds because meals are not being provided on a regular basis. He also describes a facility well beyond capacity with only three toilets and one shower for 50 people.

His case is a tragic example of New York’s criminalization of mental illness, substance use disorders, and poverty, and highlights the disturbing reality that the criminal legal system has become desensitized to peoples’ humanity. Mr. Randloph, who was homeless at the time of his arrest, has suffered from a range of mental and serious physical health issues, as well as substance use challenges. However, rather than receive treatment and support he has become stuck in a cycle of incarceration and ineffective court-ordered rehabilitation programs.

Mr. Randloph is blind in one eye and is in danger of losing his vision completely. He is currently slated to be transferred to an upstate prison to serve out the remainder of his four-year sentence.

“Clients like Reggie have been failed by nearly every system they have touched since birth— from health care to education, housing, mental health, courts, and beyond,” said Jeffrey Berman, an attorney with The Legal Aid Society who represents Randolph. “There is an opportunity to right a wrong here, and to release Reggie from the shackles of this system so he can take a step forward in his journey of healing and recovery.”

Legal Aid has already secured placement in a supportive housing program for Mr. Randolph, as opposed to a homeless shelter or a psychiatric hospital. The Manhattan district attorney is on record as not opposing the commutation of his sentence.

While this case required immediate action, systemic changes are needed. Advocates are pushing the Governor to sign the Treatment Not Jail Act, which will ensure that New Yorkers with substance use challenges, mental health concerns, and other disabilities have an off-ramp from the criminal legal system to obtain robust treatment and support in their communities rather than jail.

The Legal Aid Society is also suing New York State officials in an effort to break the prison-to-shelter pipeline.  M.G. v. Cuomo is directly tied to larger movements to divest from institutions of state violence—particularly carceral institutions—and devote the necessary resources to services that build safe and stable communities. A court recently ruled that the suit could proceed, rejecting a motion to dismiss by the State defendants.