Criminal justice reformers and community advocates this week are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to back two measures meant to change New York's parole laws with the goal of reducing the number of people in the state's prison system. 

The measures would address parole laws for older people who are incarcerated and, separately, makes it easier for an incarcerated person to be released unless they are considered an unreasonable risk to the public. 

Backing the push includes NAACP New York State Conference President Hazel Dukes, who endorsed Hochul's bid for a full term on Monday. Dukes sent a letter this week urging Hochul to embrace the legislation as part of a criminal justice reform agenda in Albany. 

"Every year, the population in New York State prisons gets older and sicker. The average age of death in these prisons is shamefully only 58. Currently, a quarter of incarcerated New Yorkers are aged 50 or older," Dukes wrote in the letter. "Studies show this population poses little to no risk upon release. Yet more than 1,000 incarcerated people have died in the last decade and many more will die behind bars if these bills are not enacted. This is a moral and fiscal crisis resulting from decades of extremely harsh sentencing and racially-biased denials of parole release."

Also backing the effort for the measures to be approved is the advocacy group Releasing Aging People in Prison Campaign. 

“As the daughter of a man whose life depends on these common-sense reforms, I’m grateful to Dr. Dukes for her strong support of parole justice," said TeAna Taylor, the group's co-director for policy and communications. "My father committed a violent crime many years ago and, through deep introspection and mentorship from incarcerated elders, has since grown into a loving, selfless man who will be eligible for parole consideration in a few years. Like the vast majority of people who have matured behind bars, he is totally rehabilitated and it would crush our family if he’s continually denied release. Without these reforms, that’s what I fear will happen in his case, as it has for countless other Black and Latinx parents and grandparents."