Dedicated to empowering justice-impacted
women, mothers, & their children.

What does it look like to belong to a diverse, compassionate and engaged community in the spirit of unifying love?

Monday was the first time Juneteenth was celebrated as a federal holiday. The actual holiday was on Sunday but was observed on June 20 with a huge celebration in Suffolk.

Body cameras will hold officers accountable, shield cops from false complaints of misconduct, and build public trust in Suffolk police, County Executive Steve Bellone said while announcing the rollout of a key element of the department’s reform plan on Thursday, calling it a “win-win-win scenario.”

The murder of George Floyd prompted sweeping police reforms, and now Suffolk County is following other major police forces rolling out body cameras for its officers.

It is hard to imagine a scenario more chilling than being accused, then convicted, of a crime you did not commit.

It Is What It Is - Season 1, Episode 6 "From Prison to Productive - It’s The New HOUR For Women And Children!". On this episode of “It Is What It Is”, Cindy will be chatting with two fabulously inspiring women - Serena Liguori, Executive Director and Anitria Blue, Community Ambassador Liaison, both representing New HOUR for Women and Children on Long Island.

Join a the CSSJ Family for a presentation and a moderated panel where participants will learn about cash bail, pretrial detention and reform, and sentencing - with a focus on women's and juveniles' experiences.

Panelists include Serena Martin-Liguori, Executive Director, New Hour for Women & Children & - Anitria Blue, Community Ambassador Liaison, New Hour for Women & Children

One year after Nassau and Suffolk counties submitted sweeping police reform plans ordered by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody, county officials and community activists are split over how much progress has been made.

WHRU's Yaw Bonsu speaks with New Hour's Executive Director Serena Liguori about the story of New Hour and how the organization is making a positive impact across Long Island.

Serena Martin-Liguori, of New Hour for Women and Children-Long Island, discusses her non-profit, which helps women impacted by incarceration.

A public hearing regarding the impact of sexual assault in the prison system. New Hour's Executive Director Serena Liguori gives testimony.

A rise in shootings across Long Island has several neighborhoods on edge.

I'm Curious with Ashley Asti

Serena Martin-Liguori, the executive director for New Hour for Women and Children, says the number of cases among inmates is close to 70 - so she's asking Hochul to grant clemency for some of the women to reduce the population.

Mayor-elect Eric Adams announced his choice for New York City’s next police commissioner Wednesday morning. Adams named Nassau County Police Chief of Detectives Keechant Sewell, 49, as the incoming police commissioner. She will be the first Black woman to hold the role in the history of the NYPD.

Advocates for former and current inmates rallied Tuesday on Long Island and in New York City for clemency for eligible prisoners and a pair of bills that would change parole and release policies for rehabilitated offenders.

A new clothing drive is seeking donations to provide inmates leaving the Suffolk County prison system with dress attire so they can pursue career and educational goals.

New York state is loosening its parole laws as Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Friday aimed at keeping parolees from being incarcerated on technical violations.

Incarcerated women deserve to move forward with life. We can have a fresh start, be happy and live meaningful lives if only we know how to find the much-needed resources. Join Julia Lazareck and the Executive Director of New Hour Serena Liguori as they delve into seeing yourself in a different light, thinking healthy thoughts and moving forward.

“What we know is that jails and prisons repeatedly let women down; they do not meet mental health needs in a holistic way.”

Formerly incarcerated New Yorkers who now own their own small businesses celebrated Sunday at a Queens block party.

While most 19-year-olds are just starting their adult lives, Serena Liguori was in prison.

On Dec. 28, 2018, 28-year-old Kevin Rollins, an inmate at the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow, died of a fentanyl overdose after he was found in cardiac arrest in his cell, where he was awaiting sentencing after violating the terms of his deal with Nassau’s Drug Treatment Court following a 2016 arrest.

Last Saturday, a coalition of advocates and lawmakers rallied on Mother’s Day weekend at a Rikers Island bus stop in Brooklyn and outside Bedford Hills prison for women in Westchester to support women and mothers behind bars and their families.

The number of COVID-19 cases has spiked in recent weeks at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a women’s prison that houses inmates who are pregnant as well as a nursery program for newborns.

There are few who would defend Lisa Montgomery’s actions from Dec. 16, 2004. On that day, Montgomery, then 36, drove to the home of a pregnant woman she had befriended online, Bobbie Jo Stinnet, and strangled her with a piece of rope.

fter the racial justice protests over the summer, both reformers and police unions were asked to sit at the same table and draft a plan for police reforms.

Isolation, incarceration, and the prison telecommunications industry

When Serena Liguori was 19 years old, she became incarcerated. During her time in prison, she quickly realized that access to health care and other services was inequitable and lacking compared to care one can get elsewhere.

She's out of prison after 17 years. What does freedom feel like?

There are no words to describe the grief of hearing keys jingling down a cell block corridor. There are no words to describe the trauma that long-term isolation can have on a body and mind.

“They gave me the key and now I’m free,” Miller-Hill said at the time.

A Black Lives Matter rally held outside of the Nassau County jail Friday shed light on bringing justice for imprisoned black and transgender women.

Juneteenth has been celebrated for years, but there are pushes to make it an official holiday and to teach the meaning and history behind the day to those who might not be aware of it.

Protesters joined in front of State Sen. Todd Kaminsky’s office in Rockville Centre on June 18 to demand that he refuse campaign contributions from police unions.

Dozens of activists Thursday called on Long Island's Democratic state senators to reinvest years of campaign contributions from law enforcement into bail funds and groups protesting police brutality.

Serena Liguori is counting on using a $50,000 grant from a California organization as seed money to help her nonprofit launch an initiative to house women after they are released from prison.

Long Island civil rights advocates cheered Tuesday as New York lawmakers repealed a state law considered one of the nation's strictest in shielding police disciplinary records, even as local officials cautioned that officer safety must remain a priority.

Long Island police unions and criminal justice advocates are gearing up for a battle over 50a, the controversial regulation that prohibits the release of disciplinary records of police officers.

Advocates for incarcerated people held an action outside the Nassau County Jail on Thursday calling for the release of vulnerable people as well as more transparency on the part of the county

Advocates for inmates at the Nassau County Correctional Center called on County Executive Laura Curran to provide daily updates on the number of coronavirus cases in the East Meadow jail and for the release of vulnerable people during a protest Thursday in Mineola.

Long Island advocates for the incarcerated rallied outside the Nassau Correctional Center on Friday, calling on county officials to release inmates who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus from the East Meadow jail.

Dear Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio,
We are pleased that the Governor has announced that incarcerated people in
DOCS facilities over the age of 55, having 90 days or less on their sentence, and not
guilty of a violent or sexual related crime will be released on a rolling basis.

New York’s controversial bail reform — and the resulting decline in the state's jail population — has helped slow the spread of the coronavirus among those behind bars locally, officials said, even as new cases have exploded elsewhere on Long Island.

A call was made Monday to release select inmates from Long Island jails and state prisons to prevent infections within the facilities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Is the state's new discovery reform to blame for the death of a witness in an MS-13 trial? A group of advocates says no, and they want an apology.

Supporters and critics of the state’s new bail reform law held dueling rallies Saturday outside the Nassau County Court in Mineola.

Listen in as the Executive Director of New Hour for Women and Children speaks about our work on Criminal Justice Insider, 103.5FM WNHH Community Radio.

Around 500 activists and lawmakers packed the Million Dollar Staircase at the Capitol today calling for an end to lifetime prison sentences.

A rally was held in Mineola Tuesday to celebrate new bail reform laws set to go into effect in New York at the start of 2020.

A desperately needed and long-overdue bail reform bill passed the State Legislature this year, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed it into law. Now, some prosecutors with the District Attorneys Association of New York are employing a campaign of fear to either change the law or delay its implementation, and keep more people in jail to await trial.

Release Aging People in Prison—held a rally Wednesday to push local govt to pass a bill that allows imprisoned elders an automatic parole hearing. #SayHerName #ValerieGaiter

Advocates of parole reform held a rally Wednesday night following the death of a woman who had served decades in the New York state prison system.

Protestors shout "Valerie Gaiter" outside Legislative Office Building (Video)

When Sammy Cabassa stepped onto the sidewalk again after 34 years in prison, he found it dizzying. The then 60-year-old was granted parole – after his 4th parole hearing in 5 years – in 2017. When he walked back into the city he left as a young man, the bright lights were hard to adjust to, after years of spending almost all of his time in dimly lit facilities.

In 1994, Halim Kaygisiz was sentenced to what would become a 17-year term in prison for a violent carjacking. Today, almost a decade after his release, Kaygisiz is director of health outreach services for the Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk County, where he helps low-income Long Islanders find services they need.

The opioid crisis is fueling sex trafficking on Long Island, leaving addicts vulnerable to exploitation by gang members and drug dealers who increasingly view prostitution as a low-risk, high-profit activity, law-enforcement officials say.

There are 288,000 people who are 50 and older in U.S. prisons, and New York is one of five states with more than 10,000 elders in prison -- a number that more than doubled since 1999 even as the state's overall prison population fell 27 percent.

New Hour for Women and Children of Long Island, a Brentwood-based nonprofit, hosted its fourth annual holiday luncheon, where 25 families came to enjoy a large holiday meal, receive toys and make holiday crafts.

"I was afraid if we didn't help these women, they would go back to the same environment that we sent them to jail to begin with."