“A Clarion Call and Urgent Appeal to New York State Legislators”
Can New York State's criminal justice system continue to uphold its tag line "justice is blind" with a straight face? There is an aged population of about 10,000 prisoners in New York State's Department of Corrections who serve no purpose other than to take up space, guaranteeing job security for New York State Corrections Officers or to fulfill an outdated commitment by the New York State Courts. Take New York's convicted prisoner #93A3439, Mr. Anthony Jackson, who is currently housed in Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
Sing Sing is one of the oldest prisons in New York State. Mr. Jackson is currently serving 50 years to life for being an accessory to two felony murders. Although it was not proven that Mr. Jackson actually helped murder anyone, he was given 25 years to life consecutively for each of the murders, while his co-defendant was charged with several counts of premeditated murder. Mr. Jackson was thirty-three years old when his crime was committed, and has spent well over the last three decades in prison. Mr. Jackson is now 65 years old, has stage 2 prostate cancer, walks with the assistance of a cane because thirteen of his vertebrae have been diagnosed as being in a degenerative condition. He also has high blood pressure, wears hearing aids, and has type 2 diabetes. Although Mr Jackson has been in prison for this extensive amount of time, he is wholeheartedly supported and provided for by his family. Mr. Jackson has completed all programs mandated by the courts and NYS DOCCS. He has also obtained every educational degree possible while incarcerated, including his Master's degree from New York Theological Seminary.
After Mr. Jackson's initial reception in Downstate Correctional Facility, he was sent to Sing Sing where he enrolled into mechanical drafting, a vocational program. Six months later, he was transferred upstate to Wende Correctional Facility. Mr. Jackson enrolled again into a mechanical drafting class where he was placed into an apprenticeship program with the Department of Labor. Mr Jackson also became an Inmate Program Associate, and became a teacher's aid, to help others learn a viable trade.
Mr. Jackson was then transferred to Great Meadows Correctional Facility and given a clerical position which involved overseeing the making of food trays for those locked down in the long term Special Housing Unit. Mr. Jackson was subsequently fired after several years of service—due to keeping a loaf of bread to hand out to share with incarcerated individuals who were hungry at night because of inadequate rations. Mr. Jackson not only lost his job, but he was placed on lockdown for several weeks. Once out of lockdown, Mr. Jackson was given a clerical job in the prison's laundry, where he worked until he was transferred to Sullivan Correctional Facility.
While at Sullivan, Mr. Jackson learned American Sign Language and was placed in a Housing Unit specifically designed for the deaf, legally deaf, and hard of hearing. This block also housed the blind, legally blind, and visually impaired. Jackson then became a sign language interpreter for the deaf and the legally deaf. Mr. Jackson took deaf incarcerated individuals to their respective programs, medical, school, and any place where the deaf person needed him to interpret back and forth to staff members, correction officers, and teachers. Mr. Jackson also had a second job assignment as a mobility guide who took blind individuals and the legally blind to programs, medication runs, and medical appointments. Soon thereafter Mr. Jackson became the block's clerk, doing clerical work for the block's officer, overseeing the blocks, keeping block lists for the showers, phones, and kiosks. During this time, Mr. Jackson would troubleshoot problems affecting the deaf and the blind within the cell block. Mr. Jackson stayed in Sullivan Correctional Facility for almost twenty years being of service to those with special needs.
Along with his clerical assignment within the housing block, Mr. Jackson enrolled in college as a full- time student. He received an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts, then went on to get a bachelor's degree in Social Science, from which he graduated Summa Cum Laude. And, as fate would have it, Mr. Jackson was told that he was in that prison too long and was transferred back to where he started - Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Mr. Jackson landed an administrative clerk position in the I.C.P. program, which was designed by the Office of Mental Health to help the mentally challenged cope while in prison and safely reenter society. Mr. Jackson helped facilitate programs like Alternative to Violence and group therapy. Soon after Mr. Jackson was approached by a counselor who wanted him to enroll into the only Master's degree college program in the United States prison system: New York Theological Seminary's Master of Professional Studies in Urban Ministry. This is an accelerated two year course crammed into an exhausting 10 months. Mr. Jackson graduated second in his class giving the student address before the superintendent of Sing Sing, Sing Sing's executive team, commissioner of DOCCS, family members, college faculty, esteemed guests, and friends.
Today Mr. Jackson is an administrative clerk for what was New York Theological Seminary, now, known as Union Theological Seminary after a merger took place between the two institutions. Here he is helping other incarcerated individuals get their Master's degrees. For the last thirty years Mr. Jackson has been a model prisoner, consistently being offered high positions of trust. Mr Jackson' s prison security number is 2, one of the lowest numbers an incarcerated person in a maximum security prison can have. If Mr Jackson had under five years left to serve he would be housed in a medium security prison. Why is Mr Jackson still incarcerated and taking up space? What purpose does it serve keeping a person like him incarcerated? It serves no purpose in the interest of justice. He is 65 years old and he has completed two-thirds of his sentence. What danger does this old man, with medical problems, pose? What justice is being served by keeping him in prison, especially when NYS DOCCS can't care for the aged? Mr. Jackson was diagnosed with stage 2 prostate cancer four months ago, and has yet to be seen by a radiologist for a treatment plan to save his life. Mr. Jackson goes out several times a year to the hospital for epidermal (Cortisone) shots in his back just so he can walk without pain. Mr. Jackson is on the medication called Gabapentin (Neurontin), a seizure medication which helps with painful peripheral neuropathy. This medication is listed just under an opioid, helping to alleviate some of his pain. Some time around 2012, the Medical Commissioner of New York State Department of Corrections, who later resigned, took away all medication that was considered abusive. Corrections medical departments only gave out aspirin to people who needed stronger medications. People who had cancer, missing limbs, etc. In 2024, NYS DOCCS was successfully sued in a class action called MWAP (Medications With Abuse Potential). Mr. Jackson was part of this class action, but did not sue for money (Peter Allen vs. Carl Koenigsmann (S.D.N.Y. November 22 2024). Mr. Jackson said all he wanted was medical help, "running after money is why I am here. If I learned anything from being in prison it's that money doesn't add one moment of time to your life."
Yet, even after being sued in 2023, see Anthony Collymore vs. Krystal Myers F. 4th (2nd cir. 2023), NYS DOCCS continues to this day to be incapable of taking care of its aging incarcerated population, let alone Mr. Jackson. The suit details many of the same medical deficiencies that are prevalent within the current NYS DOCCS medical department. Mr. Jackson regularly complains about pain and proper medical attention, especially now that he has prostate cancer. Mr. Jackson has other medical problems too, which the poor care of the Corrections medical department shows deliberate indifference that keeps him in constant pain. Mr. Jackson developed a serious skin condition on his chest, armpit, and groin area, which resulted in itching, irritation, and open sores that became infected and led to the development of painful scabs and keloid scars. NYS DOCCS is not equipped to care for, or cares anything about the approximately ten thousand incarcerated elder people, let alone Mr. Jackson. NYS DOCCS does not provide adequate treatment for nearly ten thousand incarcerated elders within its population, let alone someone who has changed his life around. Mr. Jackson has not been in any fights, never cut or stabbed anyone. He has not assaulted any incarcerated individual, staff member, or correctional officer, yet he remains a burden to New York State tax payers through the money needed to provide him food, medical expenses and housing.
Non-threatening individuals like Mr. Jackson who has paid his dues to society need to be released now. Mr. Jackson has also written the crime victims apology bank to apologize to his victims’ families for the part he did play in his crime. When asked how he survived thirty-odd years in prison without a fight or any violence, Mr. Jackson stated, "just because they put me in a cage doesn't mean I have to act like an animal." We do not need symposiums and year-long meetings just to agree to have more meetings about those who deserve release. The practice of having family members, or friends, making desperate phone calls about why their loved ones are unnecessarily languishing in N.Y. State Prisons need to end. We need members of the New York State Senate and Assembly to pass legislation such as the Elder Parole Bill and the Second Look Act, of which Mr. Jackson would immediately qualify. Mr. Jackson also asked for clemency in the form of a time cut. His case is still pending. Mr. Jackson's Master degree at NYTS is another testament of proof to his ability to remain a viable, productive member in, and of society because the going recidivism rate for a NYTS graduate is about 2%. Ladies and gentlemen of the New York State congress, I believe that I, Mr. Anthony Jackson, have made a compelling case for resentencing reform and receiving immediate relief from a prison sentence that will surely end my life. For the love of God and humanity, will you respond to my pleas and heed my desperate call?
Written by Anthony Jackson
