Republican Incarceration Strategy Exposed

The New York State Republican Party has exposed itself as favoring incarceration as a strategy for maintaining and expanding Republican political power, and all New Yorkers should be outraged by their cynical and destructive approach.

Incarceration Expands Republican Political Power

As we have discussed in the past, incarceration approaches in New York State have been designed to increase and solidify Republican political power. Nearly all incarcerated individuals are from urban parts of New York State that traditionally vote for Democrats in State Assembly and State Senate races. Nearly all prisons in New York State are in Republican areas of the state. Incarcerated individuals have traditionally been counted as residents of the community in which the prison sits rather than being considered residents of the community in which they chose to live prior to incarceration. The increased population coming from counting incarcerated individuals (who cannot vote) gives voters in Republican areas extra voting strength; their votes carry more weight, and they elect more State Senator and Assembly members than their non-prison population(who are permitted to vote) would be entitled to elect based on population size. The loss of population from urban areas such as New York City reduced the political strength of those areas and undermines urban political influence in our state.

The shift of population from urban area to Republican areas also provides those Republican areas with an unfair advantage in the battle to receive funding from the state and federal governments. Population size affects how state and federal dollars are dispersed for housing, education, transportation, and nearly every area of state and federal funding. The incarceration strategy drains funds away from the poor neighborhood where almost all incarcerated individuals come from and sends those funds to Republican areas.

The elected leaders in the Republican Party have sought to increase the number of incarcerated individuals in order to increase Republican voting power and increase funding to Republican areas.

There is a strong racial element to the incarceration strategy. More than 90% of those incarcerated in New York State on drug offenses are Black or Hispanic (80% of all incarcerated people in New York State are Black or Hispanic), even though all studies show that Black and Hispanic residents of New York State use illegal drugs less than other ethnic/racial groups. By putting large numbers of first-time, non-violent drug offenders behind bars, Republicans have gained political power and funding. They have also taken populations that have traditionally voted for Democrats and made them ineligible to vote, thereby adding to Republican voting power.

Republican Party Files Suit to Maintain Their Incarceration Advantage

During David Paterson's reign as Governor, the democratically controlled State Legislature and the Governor agreed to end the practice of counting incarcerated individuals at the location of the prison and agreed to start counting them at the place of their most recent home. It was a major change, and it signaled the latest attack on the incarceration strategy (previously, the Governor and the State Legislature agreed to end the mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenders).

Last week, the Republican Party sued our state to try to reverse the change in how incarcerated individuals are counted. Some of the Republican districts at the heart of the suit would not have sufficient population to remain as districts if they did not count incarcerated individuals in their population counts.

Attorney General Schneiderman will defend New York State against the attack by the Republican Party, and we should be pleased that he was successful in the 2010 election cycle. His Republican opponent and one of his rivals in the Democratic primary were supporters of the incarceration strategy. Schneiderman led the fight to end the counting of incarcerated people at the prison location, and he'll be the right person to defend the law he championed.

In some ways, it is a relief to see the Republican Party admit that incarcerating large numbers of people of color is part of their electoral agenda. Now, the debate is clear. Do we want more non-violent individuals to serve long sentences in order to aid the Republican Party? Do we want the existing incarcerated population used to boost Republican political power? The Republican Party has answered with a strong, "Yes!"

It is up to all of us (as well as Attorney General Schneiderman and the New York State courts) to defeat their efforts.

Bye Black and Enter Walcott

Cathie Black's reign as Chancellor of the New York City school system was brief and humiliating for all of us. It was less a reflection of her lack of knowledge and more a reflection of the arrogance of Mayor Bloomberg.

In a strange twist that seems to deserve explanation, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott will become the Chancellor but will not receive the Chancellor's $250,000 salary. Oddly, Walcott is claiming that he chose not to accept the increased salary, while the Mayor insists that Walcott would not have been permitted to receive the raise. One could assume that the Mayor is being frugal in refusing to pay Walcott for the job Walcott will now undertake, but you'd wonder why he is being frugal with Walcott's paycheck when he pushed for massive retroactive raises for his staff during the height of the recession. One might wonder whether Walcott is not really the Chancellor, since he won't be paid as the Chancellor. Perhaps Bloomberg will be the Chancellor, which has always been the problem. We've had a bad Mayor for education. Our Chancellors have suffered because they worked for the wrong leader in our city. The failure of our school system (where only 28% of Black males graduate from high school) is a failure of the Mayor and not a failure of his Chancellors. Dennis Walcott cannot fix the school system until we get a Mayor in New York City who wants our schools to successfully educate our children.

Attacking Prison Gerrymandering in NY State

Prison Gerrymandering, a the process of drawing electoral districts that consider incarcerated people to be residents of the prison towns, has worked against New York City for many years, and the New York State Legislature has finally taken action to reduce its impact in our state.

Prison Gerrymandering

As we have stated in the past, the Census Bureau counts prisoners as residents of the town where the prison is located rather than as residents of the town where they lived prior to becoming incarcerated. That approach causes large numbers of problems, including the predictable shifting of electoral power to prison towns. Prison towns are able to count non-voting incarcerated individuals as part of their voting districts, thereby giving the voters in those districts more electoral power than people living in areas that do not include a prison.

As we stated almost exactly two years ago:

"While, as of 2002, only 24% of those incarcerated in New York State are residents of Upstate New York, 91% of the prisoners are in that part of the state. Manhattan loses the votes of those incarcerated and must subsidize the education and lifestyle of upstate communities. Manhattan subsidizes the parks in upstate communities, and Manhattan's ability to fight back is limited by the increased voting power of upstate communities. In fact, many Federal program dollars are allocated based on the number of low-income residents in a given community, and the Census results in those dollars being provided to upstate communities who don't use the funds to aid those incarcerated individuals whose presence in their communities creates the windfall from the Federal Government.

It is worth noting that 80% of New York State's prisoners are Black or Latino, while the state's prison locations are nearly all in areas with very few Black or Latino residents. Though illegal drug use is equally common outside of communities of color as it is within communities of color, ninety percent of those incarcerated based on drug offenses are Black or Latino. Therefore, this theft from Manhattan is also part of a broader crime against ethnic minorities and people of color who reside in New York State. The impact of the diluted voting power and reduced resources that result from this theft is concentrated in neighborhoods where Black and Latino residents live in the largest numbers."

New York State Legislature Attacks Prison Gerrymandering

Last week, the New York State Legislature sent to Governor Paterson a new law that would count prisoners in their home communities rather than in prison communities for the drawing of local and state legislative districts going forward. All of those local and state legislative districts will be redrawn in 2011.

This new law is a wonderful achievement and a testament to the benefit of having the Democratic Party control the State Legislature and the Governor's Mansion; the commitment to true representative democracy is reflected in legislation.

Broader Problems Persist

The sad reality of this achievement is that it is narrow. Federal dollars will still be distributed based on prison Gerrymandering. Congressional districts will continue to be drawn using prison Gerrymandering. But, New York is improving the situation by correcting the problems it can correct. The full solution must come from Washington, DC.

Rangel: Proven Effectiveness and Presumed Innocent

With the Ethics Committee in the US House of Representative unable, thus far, to reach a settlement with Representative Charlie Rangel regarding allegations of ethics missteps, we look at Gabe Pressman's view and continue to hope for a settlement.

Settlement Hope

We hope that the US House and Upper Manhattan's Charlie Rangel can settle the Ethics case without a trial. Representative Rangel is accused of missteps that are nearly all self-reported and nearly all paperwork snafu's. The accusations themselves have always suggested sloppiness rather than greed. He is not even accused of any behavior that would have harmed his constituents, and he has not been accused of any sort of cover-up. Both the Rangel camp and the US House should recognize that a trial benefits no one, and the US House should not ask Representative Rangel to suggest that he knowingly committed any ethics violation.

We have highlighted previously that the US House has a record of targeting African American members of Congress for ethics investigations; in November 2009, we learned that 100% of the members of the US House of Representatives under investigation were African American, even though many non-African American lawmakers had been referred to the Ethics Committee for its review.

Presumed Innocent - Proven Effective

Charlie Rangel continues to have a presumption of innocence. He also has a record of achievement that eclipses that of any current member of Congress.

Gabe Pressman assessed the situation well last week. Charlie Rangel has served with dignity and effectiveness for 40 years.

He is a war hero who brought $5 billion of funding specifically to urban areas across our country. He has consistently served as the voice of those whose voices are often ignored. He has made our country stronger, and he has made Upper Manhattan stronger through his decades of service.

Charlie Rangel should not leave Congress this year. He was elected by the people of Upper Manhattan. We Upper Manhattan voters are the only people who should decide whether the member of Congress who represents us should be replaced. We have decided 20 consecutive times that Charlie Rangel is the best person for the job. On September 14, 2010, we will decide again who represents us. No one in Congress should suggest that he or she has better judgment than we do. We've been right 20 times in a row.

Stealing From Manhattan

Upstate New York is stealing voting power and economic resources from Manhattan, and we need to band together to put an end to the theft.

Federally Assisted Theft

The theft starts with the assistance of the Federal Government. The US Census Bureau counts incarcerated individuals as living in the locations where they are housed in prison rather than in their home communities.

When electoral districts are drawn, Census data is used. As a result, voting power is shifted from the areas that suffer most from having their residents incarcerated to areas that have prisons in their midst. In addition, when educational dollars are allocated, population is a key driver. When highway money is allocated and when other investments are made, absolute and relative populations play a major role in determining how much of various resources are available to various communities.

Theft from Manhattan

While, as of 2002, only 24% of those incarcerated in New York State are from Upstate New York, 91% of prisons are in that part of the state. Manhattan loses the votes of those incarcerated and must subsidize the education and lifestyle of upstate communities. Manhattan subsidizes the parks in upstate communities, and Manhattan's ability to fight back is limited by the increased voting power of upstate communities. In fact, many Federal program dollars are allocated based on the number of low-income residents in a given community, and the Census results in those dollars being provided to upstate communities who don’t use the funds to aid those incarcerated individuals whose presence in their communities creates the windfall from the Federal Government.

The Republican control of the NYS Senate persists today because of the theft of voting power by upstate communities. Republican counties upstate are able to elect more members to the State Senate than their actual populations would dictate. After stealing populations from Democratic counties (such as Manhattan) through the prison system the Republican control of the state senate allows the theft to be reinforced and amplified as public policy changes that would help the people of Manhattan are blocked.

It is worth noting that more than 80% of New York State's prisoners are Black or Latino, while the state's prison locations are nearly all in areas with very few Black or Latino residents. Though drug use is equally common outside of communities of color as it is within communities of color (see page 271 of this report by the US Department of Health and Human Services), ninety percent of those in NY State prisons based on drug offenses are Black or Latino. Therefore, this theft from Manhattan is also a piece of a broader crime against ethnic minorities and people of color who reside in New York State. The impact of the diluted voting power and reduced resources that result from this theft is concentrated in neighborhoods where Black and Latino residents live in the largest numbers. These facts add insult to the injury.

See a detailed report on the effect of prison populations on legislative districts in New York State in a report by the Prison Policy Institute. http://www.prisonpolicy.org/importing/importing.html

Preventing Additional Theft

After the 2010 Census, all of the Congressional and State Legislative districts with be redrawn in 2011 and will likely govern our elections until 2021. We must advocate for a change in the Census procedures as soon as possible. We must ensure that Manhattan's proper representative power is restored in the 2011 redistricting process, or we will be agreeing to have our resources and our political power stolen from us for another decade.