Chris Gelardi is a reporter for New York Focus investigating the state’s criminal-legal system. His work has appeared in more than a dozen other outlets, most frequently The Nation, The Intercept, and The Appeal. He is a past recipient of awards from Columbia and Northwestern universities to cover immigration enforcement, US militarism, contemporary colonialism, and county jails. His investigations into the use of a police gang database in Washington, DC, have spurred lawsuits and legislation. He’s based in Queens.
New York’s prison agency is interpreting key provisions of a landmark parole reform law to keep more people locked up. A lead sponsor of the legislation calls it “appalling.”
Many have described the New York City mayor’s “blueprint” to address gun crime as occupying a novel middle ground. But it mostly copies the policies of his predecessor and relies heavily on tough-on-crime tactics.
During the first eight weeks of omicron, only one jail system administered enough tests to screen every incarcerated person even once, a New York Focus analysis found. Most didn’t come close to that rate.