No to Ward's Prison Gerrymandering
A minimum sentence is not set in stone. There are various ways a person can be released prior to their original minimum including but not limited to, good behavior, special programs, resentencing, commutation, acquittal on appeal. Incarcerated people can be moved at any time for any reason seen fit by the Department of Corrections. A person incarcerated for 10 years could be moved to a different facility many times during their decade behind bars. This does nothing to address the biggest problem with prison gerrymandering, which is the lack of representation and lack of access to constituent services. Those who are incarcerated for longer periods of time need those services more than someone with a short sentence. Ending prison gerrymandering was, in large part, doing what is best for temporarily-incarcerated Pennsylvanians and their families. Passing this resolution would not only be watering down a laudable achievement by the LRC, it would create new problems, both with data and timing for the LRC, and with the practical application of such a resolution for correctional facilities, for legislators and for constituents.