Chief Judge Rowan Wilson drew more than a second look for comments made during the Second Look Act Symposium hosted by the Communities Not Cages campaign last month. Republican state lawmakers like State Senator Anthony Palumbo and Assemblymember Michael Tannousis filed a formal complaint against New York’s top judge accusing him of violating guidelines against political activity.
“Judges here are elected or in some cases are appointed by elected officials,” said Wilson during the symposium. “And one thing that all of you can do is find out who those people are and there are organizations who are starting to do that and starting to publicize that. And when those judges come up to be elected, don’t vote for them and get other people not to vote for them. That’s something you can do for me and Judge [Joseph] Zayas.”
The complaint also points to Wilson calling existing sentencing practices as “stupid.” Currently, judges can only revisit and reevaluate a narrow set of sentences. The Second Look Act, a bill sponsored by State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker which the symposium highlights, would remove these rigid requirements.
Office of Court Administration (OCA) spokesperson Al Baker says those comments remain completely above board and within Wilson’s duties as chief judge.
“It is appropriate for the Chief Judge to express his views on pending legislation that affects the court system,” said Baker in a statement. “It is also appropriate for him to speak publicly about proper judicial temperament and values, and to encourage New Yorkers to stay informed about the conduct of the judges serving their communities and to participate in the processes by which those judges are elected or appointed. Those are the points that the Chief made at this symposium, consistent with his role as the Chief Judge of the State.”
Palumbo says the complaint stems from opposing political bias rather than specific policy like the Second Look Act. The Long Island-based state lawmaker previously called the sentencing reform bill an unnecessary “extra credit” for rehabilitation. His office also believes Baker’s response reinforces his complaint’s merits.
“OCA’s failure to address Chief Judge Wilson’s comments where he urged people not to vote for certain judges is extremely telling and in fact bolsters the misconduct complaint,” said Palumbo over email. “All judges are strictly prohibited from engaging in political activity. While the OCA’s response was tailored directly to the Second Look Act and policy discussions, the heart of the complaint lies in the Chief Judge’s political commentary.”
But Katie Schaffer, Center for Community Alternatives director of advocacy and organizing, who helped put together the symposium, says Wilson’s comments simply condemn judges for using dehumanizing language and “rightfully” inform audience members about their ability to vote them out. And she believes the event remains a resounding success. Center for Community Alternatives, which launched Communities Not Cages, hosted the symposium in conjunction with CUNY Law School, which houses the Second Look Project NY.
The event tackles sentencing reform, which Wilson long advocated for since taking office as the state’s first Black chief judge in 2023. Last year, he platformed the issue during his State of the Judiciary — a key annual address for the state’s highest court. Wilson stood with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals to highlight the need for such reforms.
“Put simply, our criminal justice system isn’t working,” said Wilson during his remarks. “Maybe it hasn’t really ever worked. Prolonged incarceration is very expensive, and it does not make us safer. It entrenches poverty, perpetuates cycles of violence, and harms many of the New Yorkers we are trying to protect and serve.”
To be clear, the Second Look Act does not necessitate early release for every rehabilitated incarcerated individual. But the sentencing reform bill grants judges the flexibility to hear them out, and in valid cases, resentence them after a decade behind bars. The second look does not remove the conviction, but allows the judge to grant a reduced sentence or release someone based on time-served.
Proponents largely point to historically draconian sentencing practices against predominantly young men of color, as well as the need to rethink sentences after years of rehabilitation and incarceration.
“In New York we have thousands of people who are serving really long sentences, many of them imposed when people were very young,” said Schaffer. “And we don’t have any way of allowing judges to look back at a sentence and see if it is still fair, just [and] reasonable. Even the most ‘thoughtful’ judges are not fortune-tellers. So they impose a sentence that they believe to be just at the time of sentencing. But people change.”
Prof. Steven Zeidman, who co-directs the Second Look Project NY and moderated the panel, calls sentencing reform a racial justice issue. He says the issue centers around correcting punitive measures “wildly disproportionate to other industrialized Western nations.”
“It’s not about being merciful and beneficent, it’s about rectifying,” said Zeidman. “It’s rectifying the racist sentences that have been handed down over the last several decades that fueled mass incarceration. And I don’t say the word racist lightly — I can show you the data. We know that a disproportionate number of people in New York State Prison are Black and Brown [but] when you get the data to see the people serving the longest sentences, the racial disparity increases exponentially.
“The people who I think would have an opportunity to benefit from a second look are the people who are otherwise consigned to perish in prison. It is overwhelmingly young men of color who get those kinds of sentences. Even more so than your typical prison sentence. The longer the sentence, the greater the racial disparity.”
Panelist Charisse Peace, whose brother Shawn is serving 110 years in the maximum security Green Haven Correctional Facility, says Wilson’s support for the Second Look Act is “very encouraging.” Today, both are Communities Not Cages campaign members. She originally turned him into the authorities as “an act of desperation.” But he paid a sizable trial tax through mandatory minimums and consecutive sentencing after refusing a plea bargain. A decade and a half later, she says her brother is a different man after “conscious decisions towards reforming himself.”
“My brother is not the only one who’s been impacted by this draconian sentencing structure,” said Peace. “In terms of the Second Look Act, it’s not a Get Out of Jail Free card, [but rather] it introduces a process where people who meet the requirements of serving a particular portion of their sentence would just qualify to submit an application.”
Zeidman says Peace does not minimize the harm caused by her brother, who is convicted of second-degree attempted murder. He recalls what she said during the same panel now making headlines over the complaint against Wilson.
“All she talked about is how her brother has accepted responsibility for the harm that he caused [and] has worked hard for decades to become a different and better person,” said Zeidman. “[He] is mentoring others and encouraging them also to acknowledge the harm they cause, to accept responsibility and to take steps to change — to become better people.
“So there she is saying, does he need to perish in prison? Or can you afford him a second look, give him the opportunity to make his case in court that he doesn’t need a 110 year sentence.”