Amid pandemic, Albany Democrats must support Elder Parole and Fair and Timely Parole Act | Opinion

Dino Caroselli
Special to the USA TODAY Network

2020 has been a devastating year, and the elections have established that New Yorkers want change, change that people took to the streets in support of justice reforms all summer long. COVID-19 continues to cripple the world economy, and harm the lives of the elderly and all people. It also continues to wreak havoc on those incarcerated in New York State prisons, like myself.

Incarcerated people do not have the luxury of social distancing. We were not even issued masks until late April, after a few of my incarcerated friends lost their lives to the virus. One person who died at my facility could barely breath for weeks. He was given no oxygen, no ventilator, just a couple of Tylenol. He was the first person to die in a New York State prison because of COVID-19, but he wasn’t the last. 

It's frightening to think of the walls of your lungs closing in on you like a trash compactor until you perish and then being swallowed up by the earth in a penitentiary graveyard. The second wave is starting up, and the thought that I could be next is terrifying to me, my incarcerated peers, and our families. But some of us still remain hopeful that we’ll find relief during this time.

Sing Sing prison in Ossining.

A few years ago, I was taking my daily walk through Sing Sing's prison yard. A friend ran up to me excited about a bill pending in Albany called Elder Parole that would allow the parole board to review cases of incarcerated people 55 and older, after they served at least 15 consecutive years of imprisonment for a chance at release. After he handed me the proposed bill, I found a quiet place in the yard and read it. I felt a breath of fresh air. I felt alive for the first time in three decades. I thought, “Finally, a second chance, an opportunity to redeem myself, take care of my wife, and feel human again.”

My past 30 years have not been all good. I had difficulty adjusting to prison life and the thought of dying in this horrible place has never gotten easier. I was a tough guy from Brooklyn, who fought for everything I had. As a kid, times were hard, and living in a single parent household was even harder. 

I was ridiculed by neighborhood toughs, who were making fast money, and said that I could do the same. I made my mistakes, and I am truly sorry for the anguish I caused my victims. My immediate family are all gone now, and I never got to apologize. I've been in prison for 30 years of a 65-year-to-life sentence: 35-years to life for attempted robbery and attempted aggravated assault, and 30-to-life for a subsequent prison fight. I was a slow learner, but like so many others I’ve turned my life around.

Since those days, I've participated in numerous rehabilitative programs, worked as a facility electrician and plumber, volunteered my free time to different organizations, and participated in the restoration of a historical religious site on Sing Sing's grounds. I’ve worked with health professionals and other prison staff preparing incarcerated people with mental illness for release. I mentor these men to make better decisions, just as I have learned over time. Although I have turned my life around, I will die in prison long before my first chance at parole in 2055, unless lawmakers and the governor take action.

With a new Democratic supermajority, the state legislature should pass the Elder Parole bill and Fair and Timely Parole Act — two bills pending in Albany that would allow more incarcerated New Yorkers fair and meaningful opportunities for release based on who we are today. Even before lawmakers begin their 2021 legislative session, Gov. Andrew Cuomo could show mercy to my incarcerated colleagues and I by granting clemency. Both parole reform and clemency are critical to prevent more harm and death associated with COVID-19, and are critical steps towards addressing our state’s unjust criminal justice system.