End Prison Gerrymandering
Good Day Pa Senate, Would like to know if we could examine who we are as a society that builds prisons communities based off fourth grade reading levels versus safe productive communities fully supported with resources and healthy food. Our country is not safer with jails and prisons so why do we continue to invest in nonproductive systems? As a family community advocate im disgusted with the oppressive systems designed to keep people down versus lifting people up. Our Census allocated votes and resources are manipulated to benefit rural communities. The irony in this scenario of destroying urban communities so that rural communities can flourish is another form of slavery with little to no representation for the incarcerated from the official claiming incarcerated as their constituents. Our brothers and sisters behind bars have no vote but are counted as constituents. Total violation of One Person One Vote. Jobs should not be the argument for prison systems. We can create jobs that support peoples diversity and mental health. Where is the accountability and transparency with jail and prison jobs? How often are we paying guards who start fights with inmates just for a tax payers paid vacation? Prison Gerrymandering is also unconstitutional according to our Pennsylvania constitution due to the fact that our brothers and sisters behind bars are counted for resources and allocations that they are not allowed to use or have access to other than the water, which is often polluted to the point that the prison guards only drink bottle water. Prison Gerrymandering is all about Census data. The census count if im not mistaking is the only time our brothers and sisters behind bars are counted as residents of the prison county. When they are released they do not move into the prison county they return home to their county. If they are released within the ten years of the Census, our brothers and sisters will return home to no resources and very little support services, due to their allocations being kept in the prison county. Urban communities are losing close to $21,000/per person incarcerated. That is a lost of funding for our public schools, safe recreations and other much needed support services thanks to prison gerrymandering. While the solution seems so simple – states can and should prohibit state, county and municipal legislative districts from using prison populations, in reality, it is not. States need to develop a system within their state to adjust the Census Bureau redistricting data. While some states have been progressive in addressing the problem, others have not. States such as California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and most recently Washington state, have all successfully passed legislation addressing prison gerrymandering statewide. An act to amend the Delaware Code relating to state government determining district boundaries for incarcerated individuals passed unanimously. Other states such as Connecticut, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Texas have recognized the need for reform and have recently introduced legislation. In the end, the best solution to prison gerrymandering is to count incarcerated people at their home communities. This solution would immediately restore balance to political power and end the electoral harm prison gerrymandering has caused. "Common Cause"