Brenda Wright, of Demos writes that Sen. Griffo ignores prison-based gerrymandering problems in his own backyard while criticizing state-wide reform.
by Aleks Kajstura,
August 9, 2010
Brenda Wright, of Demos, writes that Senator Griffo ignores prison-based gerrymandering problems in his own backyard while criticizing state-wide reform.
Response to ‘Griffo Criticizes Phantom Population Law’
To the editor,
Senator Griffo is ignoring a large elephant in the living room when he complains about the legislation recently passed in New York to count incarcerated persons as residents of their home community rather than as residents of the prison town. Although he casts the issue as pitting upstate against downstate [“Griffo Criticizes Phantom Population Law”], the elephant in the room is the huge distortion in the City of Rome itself caused by counting prison population as residents of the city. By pretending that incarcerated persons are really citizens of Rome, the City has created a true phantom district: almost half of the entire population in Ward 2 in Rome consists of incarcerated people who can’t vote. This means that an actual Rome voter living anywhere except Ward 2 has only half the representation in city government as a voter who happens to live next to the prison in Ward 2. It’s not an issue of upstate vs. downstate; it’s about correcting a distorted system that doesn’t benefit anyone except the few people living in the same district as a prison.
The New York Constitution says that a prison is not a residence for purposes of voting. The new law just brings New York’s redistricting practices in line with the state Constitution and common sense.
Sincerely,
Brenda Wright
Brighton, MA
Brenda Wright is Director of the Democracy Program at Demos, a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy center.
The 2010 Census counted more than 34,000 Alabama residents in the wrong place because the Census Bureau treats prisons as if they are residential homes.
by Lauren Marcous,
August 9, 2010
Counties across Alabama eagerly await the release of the 2010 Census data, so they can begin the process of redrawing their County Commission district boundaries. Though this may sound like ‘business as usual,’ some county commissioners may be in for an unfortunate surprise.
In the 2010 Census, more than 34,000 Alabama residents were counted in the wrong place because the Census Bureau treats prisons as if they are residential homes. However, the Code of Alabama § 17-3-32 says that a prison cell is not a residence and in order to change one’s residency status, a person must voluntarily remain absent from their previous domicile with intent to claim a new one. Most people who are in prison are serving short sentences averaging less than 3 years, after which they return to their community of origin. Clearly, most incarcerated people have no intention of maintaining a new residence at the correctional facility where they are temporarily placed. Despite these facts, several counties failed to notice the discrepancy between Alabama law and the Census Bureau’s methodology and based their districts on prison counts.
Counting the incarcerated population as residents of the prison district is problematic because they are barred from voting and are not part of the local community. They are not actual constituents of the Commissioner who represents the district; rather, they are phantom constituents who serve only to inflate the population count. Since the incarcerated people are not truly residents, using them to pad the district gives more voting power to the real residents, while diluting the voting power of residents in other districts without prisons.
For example, in Bibb County the prison population from Bibb Correctional Facility was included as part of a commission district population. As a result, 21% of the 5th district is incarcerated. In terms of voting power, every 79 residents in District 5 have as much political power as 100 residents in other non-prison districts. Other counties, including Talladega County and Coosa County, use the prison population to pad their districts, as well.
But one county in Alabama chooses to reject the Census Bureau’s faulty count of prison populations. Escambia County avoids giving the people who live near the prison 10% more political influence than residents of other county districts by removing the incarcerated population before county commissioner lines are drawn. By excluding the prison population, Escambia County ensures that all of its residents have equal representation.
Ideally, the Census Bureau should change where it counts incarcerated people. They should be counted as residents of their last home addresses, not the prison. Although, it’s too late for this to happen in time for 2011 redistricting, there is more than enough time for the problem of prison-based gerrymandering to be eradicated by the 2020 Census. In the interim, other counties should follow the lead of Escambia County and exclude the prison population before they begin redistricting.
The NYCLU and Common Clause/NY both applaud passage of the bill that will finally end of prison-based gerrymandering in New York.
by Aleks Kajstura,
August 6, 2010
The New York Civil Liberties Union and Common Clause of New York both applaud passage of the bill that will finally end of prison-based gerrymandering in New York.
by Aleks Kajstura,
August 6, 2010
The New York bill that ends prison-based gerrymandering in the state has been getting a lot of press coverage. Here are our top picks:
Impact of ending prison-based gerrymandering in New York's North Country.
by Peter Wagner,
August 6, 2010
David Sommerstein on North Country Public Radio discusses the impact of New York’s new law ending prison-based gerrymandering.
Notably, Senator Aubertine explains why, although he’s not a proponent, he voted for the budget bill that included the elimination of prison-based gerrymandering. He explains that state and federal funding will not be affected. He goes on to say that 3,000 incarcerated people in his a district of 300,000 people amounts to “about 1%” and a very little impact.
Of course, the impact will be higher in the 45th Senate district which contains more prisons than any other district.
But the story singles out for “the biggest impact” two North Country counties, St. Lawrence and Jefferson, which were the only ones in the region that included the prison populations when drawing their legislative districts. All other counties in the region rejected the Census counts. St. Lawrence County used to exclude the prison populations but reversed course in a bitter partisan battle after the last Census.
In fact, one county district in St. Lawrence is 25% incarcerated. That’s a problem, says long-time reform advocate, St. Lawrence County Legislator Tedra Cobb. Leaving prisoners out of the districts is simple democracy. Districts should be based on equal numbers of community residents, and the people in the prisons are not a part of St. Lawrence County.
by Aleks Kajstura,
August 4, 2010
The New York State Senate Majority, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice all posted their press releases celebrating the passage of a bill to end prison-based gerrymandering in New York.
New York's Coalition to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering praises lawmakers for ending prison-based gerrymandering in New York.
August 4, 2010
Coalition Praises Lawmakers for Ending Prison Gerrymandering:
Budget Action Will Bring Greater Fairness to Drawing Lines for Legislative Districts
Albany, NY — The Coalition to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering, a coalition of over 70 statewide policy, advocacy, civil rights, good government and community organizations, thanked lawmakers today for passing legislation to end the unjust and undemocratic practice of prison-based gerrymandering. If signed into law by Governor Paterson, New York will join Maryland, Delaware and 13 upstate New York counties, including Wyoming, Washington, Sullivan, Cayuga, Chemung, Clinton, and Franklin, that have already ended prison-based gerrymandering and adopted a fairer method of apportioning political power.
“For decades incarcerated individuals have been used by state politicians as pawns, giving more representation to some communities and less to others,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, the convener of the Coalition to End Prison-based Gerrymandering. “The Senate and Assembly took courageous action today that will mean fairer representation for every New Yorker. Now it is up to Governor Paterson to sign the bill into law and end the undemocratic, unconstitutional and racist practice of prison-based gerrymandering.”
Prison-based gerrymandering is an antiquated practice by which state legislative district lines are drawn based on Census population counts that include people in prison as residents of their place of incarceration, instead of their home communities. This practice drastically inflates the political representation of some communities, and dilutes the representation of all other communities. Today, the legislature, as part of the revenue bill, fixed the broken system by requiring people in prison to be counted in their home communities for the purposes of redrawing district lines. The original legislation to end prison-based gerrymandering was sponsored by Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries. The legislation will not affect the distribution of federal funding.
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Eric Lotke article gives context about the history of prison-based gerrymandering and explanation for what bill passage will mean for the state.
by Aleks Kajstura,
August 4, 2010
Eric Lotke just posted a great article about the New York bill that just passed, ending prison-based gerrymandering in that state. He gives a lot of context about the history of prison-based gerrymandering and explanation for what this will mean for the state.
New law caps decade-long effort to improve fairness and accuracy of data used for state and local redistricting.
August 3, 2010
New law caps decade-long effort to improve fairness and accuracy of data used for state and local redistricting
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Peter Wagner, Prison Policy Initiative, (413) 527-0845, (413) 923-8478
Tim Rusch, Demos, 212 389-1407
Brenda Wright, Demos, 617 913-1967
August 3, 2010 – Today, the New York State Senate passed legislation ensuring that incarcerated persons will be counted as residents of their home communities when state and local legislative districts are redrawn in New York next year. The measure, already passed by the Assembly, was included in the budget package that now awaits Governor Paterson’s signature.
The state legislature and some counties and municipalities have previously counted incarcerated people as residents of the prison location, inflating the local population counts used for legislative districts. Padding legislative districts with prison populations artificially enhances the weight of a vote cast in those districts at the expense of all districts that do not contain a prison.
The bill now on Governor Paterson’s desk would use data from the department of corrections to identify the home addresses of incarcerated persons and include them in the population counts for those areas prior to redistricting. Because the bill does not change the core Census data, no federal funding based on Census data would be affected. The bill will affect state senate, state assembly, county and municipal districting in the state that will begin in 2011.
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Some counties in Florida adjust Census data for redistricting purposes, avoiding prison-based gerrymandering.
by Lauren Marcous,
August 2, 2010
Rural counties in Florida are eagerly awaiting the release of the 2010 Census data so they can begin the process of redrawing County Commissioner districts. But when county commissioners download the data early next year, they may be in for an unfortunate surprise. 140,000 Florida residents have been counted in the wrong place.
The U.S. Census Bureau counts incarcerated people at the correctional facilities where they are locked up, rather than at their last known home address. Under U.S. common law, people are residents of the place they choose to reside with an intent to remain. As incarceration is involuntary, it should not qualify as a residence. In most states, this is an explicit statutory law. In Florida it is not; however, in other contexts, state courts have ruled that residency is not established ‘at the site of a prison solely by virtue of incarceration.’ B.C. Cook & Sons Enterprises, Inc. v. R & W. Fruit Co., 512 So.2d 980 (Fla. 1987).
The legal discrepancy between U.S. Census counts and legal residence has created a big problem for one county in Florida. During the last redistricting process in 2001, Gulf County was faced with the prospect of creating a district where 80% of the people were behind bars. Billy E. Traylor, commissioner of District 2, where the prison is located, was in favor of counting the prison population. Other members of the Board of County Commissioners felt differently, including Nathan Peters, Jr. At the time, Peters said, “they don’t pay taxes, they don’t have the right to vote, there is no reason to count them.”
Unsure of how to proceed, the Gulf County Commissioners contacted the Florida Attorney General for his opinion. Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth said that Gulf County must include the prison population when redistricting. Unwilling to draw a district that gave some people 5 times as much political influence as others, the Gulf County Commissioners decided to reject both the Attorney General’s opinion and the Census Bureau’s method of counting prison populations.
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