From Retribution to Redemption: Rethinking Sentencing in NY

By Cheryl Morris, Ret. Deputy Superintendent, NYS Dept. of Corrections | Board Member, LEAP

 

There is a deeper kind of justice; one that doesn’t simply punish, but listens, learns, and heals.

That vision is at the heart of the Marvin Mayfield Act, a New York bill that would eliminate the harmful use of prior convictions to enhance new sentences. As someone who spent decades working inside correctional facilities, I’ve witnessed the human toll of treating people as their worst moment.

This legislation recognizes what many of us in law enforcement already know: cycles of punishment don’t break cycles of harm.

In New York, prior convictions, often rooted in poverty, racial bias, and systemic disinvestment can trigger extreme sentencing enhancements. That means people aren’t being sentenced for what they’ve done, but for who the system believes they are.

This is not justice, it’s retribution disguised as public safety.

The Marvin Mayfield Act would ensure that prior records, especially decades-old ones, are not used to escalate punishment unnecessarily. It shifts our focus to who people are now, not who they were when they fell through the cracks.

This is how we move from retribution to rehabilitation, from repeating harm to healing it.

#MarvinMayfieldAct #SentencingReform #BreakTheCycle #JusticeWithDignity #PublicSafetyWithCompassion #LEAPForward #FairnessInJustice