California coalition urges Gov. Brown to sign bill to end prison-based gerrymandering

Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) coalition of 55 organizations calls on Gov. to sign AB 420 into law.

by Leah Sakala, September 21, 2011

Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) has just released a letter signed by 55 organizations calling on Governor Brown to sign AB 420. This legislation would mandate that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation provide the Citizens Redistricting Commission with incarcerated populations’ original address data. This information would allow the Commission to end prison-based gerrymandering throughout the state by reallocating incarcerated people to their real addresses.

The sign-on letter states:

Because of the disproportionate number of people of color in our state who incarcerated, the impact of AB 420 could be extremely great. By providing the Commission on Redistricting accurate information regarding the place of residence of people in California’s prisons, they will have the information needed to draw district lines that correctly reflect the population in our state. AB 420 is not a bill that should pit urban areas against the rest of California. Rather, it is a bill that recognizes the basic principle of “one person, one vote.” This is a bill that could contribute to providing fair and proportional representation to all Californians.

We also submitted a letter asking Governor Brown to sign AB 420.

We commend the Californians United for a Responsible Budget coalition for taking this stand for the welfare of California’s democracy.