On April 26, the U.S. Census Bureau released initial data from the 2020 Census. Population shifts across the country over the last 10 years will mean that six mostly red states will add House seats, while seven mostly blue states will each lose one seat. Census numbers determine not only representation in Congress, but the amount of federal funds allocated to communities.
With the political impact of the census in mind, advocates of a bill in Connecticut to end what they call “prison gerrymandering” held a rally at the Capitol in Hartford on April 28. Incarcerated people in the state are currently counted as residents of the cities and towns where prisons are located, which are mostly white, rural areas, as opposed to the urban centers where the majority of back and Latino imprisoned individuals reside.
Forty states have similar prison gerrymandering laws on the books. while 10 states have passed legislation to end prison-based gerrymandering and count incarcerated people in their home communities for redistricting purposes. Those states are California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington state. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus attended the Hartford rally against prison gerrymandering and presents two of the speakers here. We first hear from Claudine Fox, interim public policy and advocacy director of the ACLU of CT.
CLAUDINE FOX: As an organization, the ACLU believes in many things. We fundamentally believe in the liberties guaranteed by our Constitution. We strongly support a free and fair voting system to uphold the foundational cornerstone of our democracy – the right to vote. We also believe in the power of the people. We wear these blue People not Prison shirts, not to make a fashion statement, but to clearly communicate to the world that our society should invest in people and not the oppressive systems that keep them down and hold them back.
We believe that our society should invest in people, not prisons. The current practice of counting incarcerated Connecticut residents as residents of towns where they are caged not only harms incarcerated people; it dilutes the votes and resources of the communities they come from, and disproportionately benefits communities with prisons. This is a fundamentally undemocratic outcome that requires wholesale change. The practice of gerrymandering hurts incarcerated people and undermines people’s dignity and identities. People should not be counted as residents of the communities in which they are incarcerated because they do not decide where they will be imprisoned. They are, in fact, not residents at all, but captives. To pretend that they are being counted in their community of choice, as our current system does, is insulting. In addition, incarcerated people are not integrated into the areas surrounding their prisons and jails. They are unable to take advantage of community resources like libraries, parks and schools that were paid for, in part, with their bodies.
Prison gerrymandering violates the dignity of those who are incarcerated. Gerrymandering also harms the communities where incarcerated people live. Racist policies in Connecticut have led to wildly disproportionate numbers of black and Latinx people being imprisoned compared to white people, meaning that the communities of color these prisoners come from are also harmed far worse by the practice of gerrymandering than white communities. Gerrymandering leans on the racist practice of over-policing and incarceration of predominantly black and brown residents of Connecticut to stay viable. This leads to the over-representation of black and brown bodies in prisons, while their communities remain under-counted and under-represented when it comes to local and state and federal resources as well as the representation at our state’s legislature – the building right behind us.
The practice of gerrymandering represents a direct transfer of political power and resources from communities of color to mostly white areas. Numerous states have worked to end the practice legislatively, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Connecticut has a once-in-a decade a chance to shift this power back to justice-impacted communities. By stepping into this opportunity, our elected officials will be directly acknowledging black and brown communities in Connecticut that have been calling to be seen and heard for generations.
We at the ACLU believe that everyone plays a role in ending mass incarceration (applause). Passing S.B. (Senate Bill) 753 is just one of the many opportunities to step into that power. So people, our elected officials, we are calling on you to recognize the disproportionately harmed black and brown communities. Hear us! See us! End prison gerrymandering now and end mass incarceration!
People! Not Prisons! (repeat)
Thank you!
SCOTT HARRIS: We hear next from Connecticut state Sen. Mae Flexer.
STATE SEN. MAE FLEXER: Good morning, everyone. I’m so thrilled to be here with all of you today to finally make the policy of Senate Bill 753 a reality. So many of you have been working on this issue for so long, and it’s been said very clearly this morning, this is a once-in-a-decade opportunity, and the state of Connecticut cannot allow the current racist practice to continue. We must pass S.B. 753 this year.
In my district there is a correctional institute. And so if we pass this bill, there will be hundreds of people who I believe are wrongly counted as constituents of mine, who will be transferred back to the place that they’re actually from. I hope that all of my colleagues who have prisons in their districts will recognize the unfairness of the way we’ve been doing this for so long, recognize this as an inherently racist policy and support Senate Bill 753 this year. Thank you all very much.
(Applause)
For more information about the Prison Gerrymandering Project, visit
https://www.
