Harlem Woman Pushes NY Prisons To Release Her Aging Husband

HARLEM, NY — A Harlem woman whose 66-year-old husband has been in prison for more than a decade is pushing her elected officials to support a bill that would give people his age a chance to win back their freedom.

Theresa Moses, 60, has lived in Harlem all her life. She's known her husband, Morris, for 45 of those years, having grown up on the same block on 117th Street between Lenox and Seventh avenues.

About 16 years ago, after a few prior offenses, Morris was hit with a 40-year prison sentence for attempted murder after he participated in a group robbery. Since then, Theresa said, he has given up drugs, become a grandfather, and changed his priorities as a now-senior citizen.

"The game is over," she said. "His whole demeanor has changed."

Still, Morris is due to remain behind bars well into his old age — equivalent to "a death sentence" in Theresa's eyes. That led her to join a campaign pushing for the passage of the Elder Parole Act, a state bill that would give people in prison who are 55 or older and served at least 15 years of their sentence the chance to appear before the parole board.

The fight has taken on a new urgency during the pandemic. Morris is diabetic, asthmatic and suffers from kidney problems and high blood pressure, Theresa said, making him especially at risk of complications if he contracts COVID-19 in prison.

The bill has dozens of co-sponsors in the State Senate and Assembly, including nearly all of Harlem's legislators. The one exception is State Sen. Brian Benjamin, a supporter of other criminal justice reforms including the Fair and Timely Parole Act, who has nonetheless opposed elder parole.

Benjamin's office did not respond to a request for comment, but he told Gothamist last year that his opposition stemmed from fears that sex offenders could be released early under the proposed law.

"I have concerns about the Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein types. I don’t think those folks should be included," he said.

Theresa, who said she attends the same Democratic club as Benjamin, doesn't buy his logic, noting that the parole board would have the final say in each person's case.

"He should show us they care for their incarcerated loved ones," she said. "It’s our vote that gets you in that seat."

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, who sponsors the Elder Parole Act, said in a statement that he is "more optimistic than ever" that the bill could pass, given the new Democratic supermajority in the State Senate.

"Elder parole would restore hope for countless incarcerated people, their families and loved ones," Hoylman said.

Meanwhile, as Morris remains in Green Haven state prison, things have grown dire for his family on the outside: his sister was hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this week, and her husband died from the virus days earlier, Theresa said.

She said the pandemic has strengthened her husband's desire to leave prison, return to Harlem and get to know his two grandsons, who have never been to visit him.

"I see that he has that family dynamic about himself," she said. "I see the urge in him to go out and live peacefully for the rest of his life."