For Immediate Release: February 1, 2010
Coalition to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering Comes to Albany to say, “It’s About Upstate Too!”
Senator Eric. T. Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries Introduce New Bill to Change How New York Uses Census Counts for People in Prison
Coalition Announces Support of Upstate Legislators: Senators Neil Breslin and Antoine Thompson
New York, NY – A new coalition of community groups and advocates from across New York State came to Albany today to advocate for new legislation to end the undemocratic system of prison-based gerrymandering. At the Capitol this afternoon, the coalition stood with Senators Neil Breslin and Antoine Thompson as they announced their support for the bill that was introduced earlier today.
The legislation will require New York State to count people in prison as residents of their home communities for the purpose of legislative redistricting, rather than as residents of the districts in which they are incarcerated. The current system for counting people in prison drastically inflates populations in some communities, thereby making their votes worth more than the votes of other citizens throughout the state.
Under New York State law, counties are given the discretion to choose the population base used for county-level legislative redistricting. Currently, most of New York’s counties with large prisons reject the system of prison-based gerrymandering. Thirteen New York counties correct the Census count, removing the prison population before redistricting to avoid vote dilution in their districts.
Because the legislation only changes the way New York State uses Census data for the purpose of redistricting, it will have no impact on any funding related to Census data.
“Equal representation under the law benefits everyone,” said Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, the lead sponsor of the bill to end prison-based gerrymandering. “The practice of counting people where they are incarcerated undermines the fundamental principle of ‘one person, one vote’ – it’s undemocratic and reflects a broken system that impacts communities across the state. The time to act is now.”
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, the prime sponsor of the legislation in the Assembly, said, “Prison-based gerrymandering fosters an environment where certain communities actually benefit from the criminalization of other communities that are predominantly urban and low-income throughout the state of New York. The system is unfair, undemocratic and unconstitutional, and we will not rest until the process is changed.”
Senator Neil Breslin said, “It’s time that we end the distortion among upstate districts by restoring democracy to the way we count people in prison for redistricting. Communities all across New York have suffered with less representation than other communities for long enough.”
“I’m happy to announce my support for this legislation because the people of my district, and people from districts all over New York need to know that their representation in the legislature is equal among every New Yorker,” said Senator Antoine Thompson. “People in prison should be counted in the communities where they come from, and are most likely to return if those communities are to be represented fairly.”
“Citizen Action joined this coalition because it’s a vital issue to our members in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, the Capital District and on Long Island,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “In fact, nearly 34% of all incarcerated individuals come from these communities.”
“We applaud State Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries for their leadership in getting incarcerated persons counted as residents of their home communities, as directed by the state constitution,” said Steven Carbo, Senior Program Director at Demos. “We will continue to rob those neighborhoods of population-based political power if we exclude people in prison from their census count.”
“We count and our loved ones in prison should count too,” said Alison Coleman, Executive Director of Prison Families of New York, Inc. “Because prison reentry and successful family reunification are so important, its crucial that the communities where we live have fair representation in the legislature.”
The coalition includes these organizations: Citizen Action of New York, the Prison Policy Initiative, New York Civil Liberties Union, Demos, Common Cause/NY, the Brennan Center for Justice, Fortune Society, Bronx Defenders, Praxis Project, Correctional Association of New York, Community Service Society, New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Center for Law & Social Justice, Nu Leadership Policy Group, Prison Families of New York, Exponents, Prison Action Network, Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Reducing Recidivism, Western New York Reentry, Back To Basics Outreach Ministries, Community Voices Heard, Prisoners Are People Too and Center for Community Alternatives.
For more information, visit http://prisonersofthecensus.org/nycounties/
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