for more, we go directly to albany and kathy manley.gtime lawyer and advocate for prisoner rights who represented john mackenzie in his contempt of court case against the new york state parole board. welcome to democracy now! talk about what happened and why you believe he committed suicide after being denied parole. i was approached to do an appeal for john. it was denied. he was the poster boy for the person who should be released on parole. he had an amazing record. he was very successful. he worked with parents of murdered children and other groups. expand theo i program. the prison shut it down because they do not want a prisoner program to be so successful. they cared more about that than rehabilitation. i filed an appeal. it was granted by judge rosa. he got a new hearing last december. again, they violated her order, saying they cannot deny parole based on the circumstances of that one day in 1975. so then i filed for content, and she granted that -- comtempt, and she granted that. he could not take it anymore. he could not take

this is mackenzie's lawyer kathy manley reading a letter from his daughter danielle at monday's protest>> many people have been positively infenced by my father and the good work he did while incarcerated, something ignored by the parole board. ds, he foundodf his own path to rehabilitation in the face of an erisa to. -- face of adversity. they chose to ignore his rehabilitation. instead, they focused on negativity, punishment, and hate. therefore, the parole board should be charged with my father's death. amy: more than 9,500 people over the age of 50 are held in new york's prisons. two-thirds are eligible for parole. today, japan marks the 71st anniversy of the u.s. atomic bombing of nagasaki. japanese prime minister shinzo abe reiterated japan's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation at a ceremony marking the attack, the second of two atomic bombs dropped on japan at the end of wwii. >> as the only country to be bombed by atomic bombs during wartime, i was strongly advocate the importance of maintaining and strengthening the stance of corporation with nuclear weapons while maintaini