Death of Eddie Ellis a Loss to All Who Pursue Justice

ALBANY, NY (07/28/2014)(readMedia)-- The New York State Defenders Association (NSYDA) and its Client Advisory Board join many others in mourning Edwin "Eddie" Ellis, who died July 24, 2014. An influential advocate for reform of the criminal legal system, Ellis founded the Centre for NuLeadership On Urban Solutions. "His death is a great loss to those who fight for justice and to those who continue to be denied justice," said NYSDA Executive Director Jonathan E. Gradess.

As the Center for NuLeadership noted in announcing Ellis's death, he was imprisoned in Attica at the time of the uprising. During and following his incarceration, Ellis "became nationally known as a staunch prison reformer and advocate of the non-traditional approach to the 'criminal punishment system.'"

Dr. Alice P. Green, a member of NYSDA's Client Advisory Board, often mentions with respect Ellis and other members of a "think tank" of incarcerated men at the Green Haven prison. Their research first put a spotlight on the disproportionate number of people in state prison who came from just seven New York City neighborhoods. Green, who has a doctorate in criminal justice and advanced degrees in education, social work, and criminology, says she remains astounded by the quality of the work Ellis and the others were able to do while locked away 35 years ago. Green is the Executive Director of the Center for Law and Justice, in Albany; Ellis was a founding board member. The Center has published several important reports on the disproportionate impact of adult and juvenile justice systems in the Capital Region; such work has roots in Ellis's early efforts to demonstrate with data the unfairness of what has come to be known as mass incarceration. "We give thanks for his love of people. We will miss his light," Green said.

The New York Times ran a story in 1992 about Ellis, the research that he and others did, and the reform work he was engaged in. A Christian Science Monitor article in 1997 noted the education Ellis obtained in prison and his work after release helping at-risk children and running the Community Justice Center in Harlem dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated people transition back into society. In 2007, the Daily News reported that Ellis was "considered by law enforcement experts as a pioneer in the study of incarceration data;" it also noted that "[n]early 30 years after the former Black Panther examined the ties between poverty and prison, research shows that low-income neighborhoods still send the most men to prison."

Ellis fought for reform of prisons and the system that fills them throughout his life. Recognition of his work included the creation by Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. of the Edwin (Eddie) Ellis Life Time Achievement Award honoring formerly incarcerated people for their contributions; recipients have included NYSDA Client Advisory Board members Darryl King and John "Jay" Coleman, who chairs the advisory board and is now employed as NYSDA's Client Coordinator. Ellis himself received Citizens Against Recidivism's first Martin Luther King Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2007.