January 31, 2014: Community Leader Robert Gangi Receives State Bar’s Haywood Burns Award
1.31.2014
Public policy advocate Robert Gangi is the 2014 recipient of the Haywood Burns Award given by the Committee on Civil Rights of the New York State Bar Association.
Gangi of Manhattan, who received the award on January 30 at the State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting in New York City, was honored for his lifelong commitment to social justice. He is well known for his work in criminal justice and law enforcement.
“Robert Gangi has dedicated his life to progressive social change. He has effected impactful reform and shined a light on the issues affecting prisoners,” said Diana Sen of Manhattan (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs), chair of the Committee on Civil Rights. “He is a true champion for justice.”
A graduate of Columbia University, Gangi is the director and founder of the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP) at the Urban Justice Center. During his tenure, PROP has published a voter education guide, hosted numerous forums on unjust police practices and issued several reports on police abuses.
He served as the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York from 1981 to 2011. His accomplishments included working to prevent prison overcrowding, advocating to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for people convicted of drug crimes, and promoting alternatives to incarceration.
Prior to his work at the Correctional Association, he was a program officer for the John Hay Whitney Foundation and a community organizer in New York City. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Newsday and Times Union.
The 75,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.
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Contact: Brandon Vogel
Media Writer
518/487-5535
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