About us
UNCHAINED is a non-profit organization dedicated to dismantling the carceral state and the prison industrial complex. Founded by Derek Singletary and Emily NaPier Singletary, our mission is to empower those currently and formerly incarcerated in the state of New York through policy development, community organizing and advocacy, research, and liberation education. We aim to collaborate with our members inside and outside in order to create a world in which we are all on the freedom side.
Our Campaigns
The Less Is More Act, which went into effect March 1st, 2022, is the result of a statewide campaign of more than 300 organizations, led by Unchained and Katal. The law overhauled New York State's parole system, preventing people from being reincarcerated for minor non-criminal violations and incentivizing compliance with parole rules by allowing people to earn early discharge from supervision. Since taking effect, the number of people detained in local jails for technical violations has declined by nearly 90 percent across the state, and over 20,000 people have been discharged early from parole, reducing the number of people on parole statewide by more than 40 percent. To learn more, visit the #LessIsMoreNY Campaign website.
#PhoneHomeNY
#PhoneHomeNY strives to provide incarcerated people in New York with the ability to call loved ones from the safety of their own cell. Prison wall phones can often only be accessed during recreational time, which leads to long lines to use the phones, violence, and gang control over the lines. Wall phones are often located outside, making calling loved ones especially difficult during New York winters. Giving incarcerated people the means to make calls through their state-sanctioned tablets will reduce violence and health risk and ease the stress of staying in touch with loved ones on the outside.
The Unemployment Bridge Program, a campaign led by the #FundExcludedWorkers coalition and backed by Unchained, expands on the Excluded Workers Fund that passed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Program will provide unemployment benefits for workers not covered by traditional unemployment, such as undocumented workers, freelancers, and incarcerated workers. If passed, the bill would guarantee monthly payments of $1,200 for six months to help individuals in re-entry within their first year home while they seek employment on the outside. Read more about the bill on the #FundExcludedWorkers website.
Our Research
Community Perspectives on Reinvesting Less Is More Cost Savings
Unchained and the Columbia Justice Lab conducted qualitative research via town hall discussions regarding how New Yorkers, especially those in communities disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system, want to see the cost-savings from the Less Is More Act reinvested into their communities. Read the research report here.
Less Is More Onondaga County Case Study
Unchained, in collaboration with the Syracuse University Department of Sociology, is conducting a case study of the implementation of the Less is More Act in Onondaga County. The project consists of data being collected through court watching at parole revocation hearings as well as qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the reform. Stakeholders include people currently or formerly on parole in Onondaga County and their loved ones, defense attorneys, judges, and other system personnel.
Our Community
UnchainNY Apprenticeship Program
In July 2024, Unchained launched UnchainNY, a year-long, paid apprenticeship program that builds on the skills and experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals to develop them as community organizers. This groundbreaking program combines classroom learning with hands-on opportunities to empower directly impacted community leaders to organize for lasting policy changes. Our unique curriculum was created by Derek Singletary and developed by Shaunice Moody and Shaneya Simmelkjaer.
Unchained Gang
Consisting of currently and formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones throughout New York and beyond, Unchained Gang members shape our organization in unique and essential ways. Their expertise and firsthand experience with the ways in which the prison system targets marginalized populations, locks them away, and continually punishes, traumatizes, and kills them allows for deep understanding of the problems of the system and promotes effective solutions.
Co-Conspirators
Co-Conspirators of the Unchained Gang, while not directly impacted by the prison system, provide support that boosts Unchained’s message and supports our efforts. Co-Conspirators contribute essential physical, financial, and community support that enables us to continue centering the leadership of those directly impacted by a corrupt and deadly system.