My first problem: the term “upstate.” Can you please tell me which of these communities best represents upstate?

Is it Elsmere Street in Buffalo, a hip strip of shops and restaurants and single and double family homes?

Is it the small Adirondack town of Lake Placid where the hot spot is the local bait and tackle shop?

Is it the Southwest Syracuse, a community of low-income neighborhoods where many community clinics and centers are stretched thin trying to serve an underserved population?

Is it rural Cazenovia, population 6,481.

The correct answer is obviously ‘E ‘ – all of the above represent upstate. The reality is, “upstate” is as diverse as its geography, its people and, therefore, its policy needs. There are times when New York City has more in common with Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and even Albany, while Pittsford (Monroe County) shares some of the assets of Larchmont (Westchester County) and Northport (Nassau County).

In fact, depending on where you live, upstate means different things. I grew up in Orange County. My dad commuted every day to New York City where he worked as a water inspector. In fact, my parents, my older brother and sister were all born in New York City and we regularly visited my grandparents who lived there until they passed away. So for the first 18 years of life, I considered myself a “downstater.” However, my boyfriend in college, from Long Island, informed me that everything north of Manhattan was upstate, but maybe, just maybe, he might include the Bronx.

So let’s go back to this question of how the bill to end prison-based gerrymandering impacts upstate.

Well, for folks in the cities, where unfortunately, we have the highest rate of sentencing and are therefore the largest contributors to the prison population, folks will have the right to be represented back in their home communities, whether we are talking about the North Side of Rochester or Salina Street in Syracuse. This would definitely help these communities be more accurately represented.

For folks who live in the counties with prisons, they also would benefit from accurate representation. At this point, these counties find themselves out of whack. If a county consists of 7 or 8 towns, the one holding the prison suddenly has unrealistically inflated numbers and therefore disproportionately high representation, which is why many – in fact 13 counties with prisons – have stopped the practice of counting the prison population for purposes of county-level redistricting.

But do any of these arguments really matter?

Do we remember the 3/5ths compromise to count slaves, who could not vote, but counted as 3/5ths of a person to beef up the numbers in communities who would consistently vote to maintain slavery?

The practice of counting prisoners in their place of incarceration is an antiquated process when we lacked the computers and databases to track people otherwise. But now, it’s turned into an unjust process which ends up commodifying human beings for the benefit or profit of others.

It is no secret that while equal numbers of black and brown people are arrested as whites, the majority of people actually in the prisons are black and brown. The impact of counting prisoners any place other than their home communities results in an unintentional oppression of some people to the benefit of others.

I know that no New Yorker, upstate, downstate, whether they live in the country or the suburbs or the city, would condone that. Nor would they ask their elected representative to do so.

And that is what really is at stake: the soul of an entire state – our state. Because, if we maintain this practice, we are all guilty.

Last Thursday (January 28th), we kicked-off a new campaign to end prison-based gerrymandering, the undemocratic system for using people in prison to inflate population counts.

At the campaign kick-off, Rev. Al Sharpton said that this is “the voter rights and civil rights issue of the year in the state of New York.”

Here’s the problem: right now, the US Census Bureau counts people in prison as being residents of the area in which they are incarcerated.

While New York’s constitution (Article II §4) states that incarceration will not change a person’s residence, the State still uses the Census numbers for the purposes of drawing legislative district lines, effectively denying fair representation to the communities where most people in prison come from: specifically urban areas and communities of color.

That’s why we’re working with a coalition of organizations from across the State of New York to pass legislation to end this practice. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Eric Schneiderman in the Senate and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in the Assembly, will use Department of Correctional Services data to amend the Census population counts used for redistricting. Because the legislation doesn’t change how the Census actually counts people, and instead changes how the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment uses Census data to draw district lines, this won’t affect any state or federal funding for any community that is tied to Census data. It will, however, correct the decades old injustice of giving certain communities more representative power at the expense of others.

13 upstate counties that have large prison populations have already rejected the Census counts when it comes to county-level redistricting. Essex County didn’t use the Census counts when they drew districts for their Board of Supervisors. They gave this explanation:

“Persons incarcerated in state and federal correctional institutions live in a separate environment, do not participate in the life of Essex County and do not affect the social and economic character of the towns… The inclusion of these federal and state correctional facility inmates unfairly dilutes the votes or voting weight of persons residing in other towns within Essex County…”

On Monday (February 1st), we held a press conference in the Capitol in Albany to announce new support for the bill from upstate legislations Senators Antoine Thompson and Neil Breslin and Assemblyman Jack McEneny.

With the 2010 Census already underway, and New York’s redistricting process just around the corner in 2012, now is our chance to finally end the distorted system of representation in New York and restore the fundamental principle of ‘one person, one vote.’

Coalition to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering Comes to Albany to say, “It’s About Upstate Too!”

Senator Eric. T. Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries Introduce New Bill to Change How New York Uses Census Counts for People in Prison

Coalition Announces Support of Upstate Legislators: Senators Neil Breslin and Antoine Thompson

New York, NY – A new coalition of community groups and advocates from across New York State came to Albany today to advocate for new legislation to end the undemocratic system of prison-based gerrymandering. At the Capitol this afternoon, the coalition stood with Senators Neil Breslin and Antoine Thompson as they announced their support for the bill that was introduced earlier today.

The legislation will require New York State to count people in prison as residents of their home communities for the purpose of legislative redistricting, rather than as residents of the districts in which they are incarcerated. The current system for counting people in prison drastically inflates populations in some communities, thereby making their votes worth more than the votes of other citizens throughout the state.

Under New York State law, counties are given the discretion to choose the population base used for county-level legislative redistricting. Currently, most of New York’s counties with large prisons reject the system of prison-based gerrymandering. Thirteen New York counties correct the Census count, removing the prison population before redistricting to avoid vote dilution in their districts.

Because the legislation only changes the way New York State uses Census data for the purpose of redistricting, it will have no impact on any funding related to Census data.

“Equal representation under the law benefits everyone,” said Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, the lead sponsor of the bill to end prison-based gerrymandering. “The practice of counting people where they are incarcerated undermines the fundamental principle of ‘one person, one vote’ – it’s undemocratic and reflects a broken system that impacts communities across the state. The time to act is now.”

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, the prime sponsor of the legislation in the Assembly, said, “Prison-based gerrymandering fosters an environment where certain communities actually benefit from the criminalization of other communities that are predominantly urban and low-income throughout the state of New York. The system is unfair, undemocratic and unconstitutional, and we will not rest until the process is changed.”

Senator Neil Breslin said, “It’s time that we end the distortion among upstate districts by restoring democracy to the way we count people in prison for redistricting. Communities all across New York have suffered with less representation than other communities for long enough.”

“I’m happy to announce my support for this legislation because the people of my district, and people from districts all over New York need to know that their representation in the legislature is equal among every New Yorker,” said Senator Antoine Thompson. “People in prison should be counted in the communities where they come from, and are most likely to return if those communities are to be represented fairly.”

“Citizen Action joined this coalition because it’s a vital issue to our members in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, the Capital District and on Long Island,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “In fact, nearly 34% of all incarcerated individuals come from these communities.”

“We applaud State Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries for their leadership in getting incarcerated persons counted as residents of their home communities, as directed by the state constitution,” said Steven Carbo, Senior Program Director at Demos. “We will continue to rob those neighborhoods of population-based political power if we exclude people in prison from their census count.”

“We count and our loved ones in prison should count too,” said Alison Coleman, Executive Director of Prison Families of New York, Inc. “Because prison reentry and successful family reunification are so important, its crucial that the communities where we live have fair representation in the legislature.”

The coalition includes these organizations: Citizen Action of New York, the Prison Policy Initiative, New York Civil Liberties Union, Demos, Common Cause/NY, the Brennan Center for Justice, Fortune Society, Bronx Defenders, Praxis Project, Correctional Association of New York, Community Service Society, New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Center for Law & Social Justice, Nu Leadership Policy Group, Prison Families of New York, Exponents, Prison Action Network, Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Reducing Recidivism, Western New York Reentry, Back To Basics Outreach Ministries, Community Voices Heard, Prisoners Are People Too and Center for Community Alternatives.

For more information, visit http://prisonersofthecensus.org/nycounties/

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Sign the Petition!

The U.S. Census Bureau counts incarcerated people as residents of their place of confinement, rather than as residents of their home communities. These false population counts are then used to draw state and local legislative districts. The result is that the political power of our communities is diluted. Prison-based gerrymandering is not just unfair; it also violates the New York State Constitution.

Coalition Launches Campaign to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering in New York

Community Groups Call on Legislature to Count People in Prison at Home for Redistricting

New York, NY – In an effort to help establish more fair and accurate representation in New York elections, a coalition of voting rights and community advocates, joined by Senator Eric T. Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, rallied this morning to announce a new campaign to end the undemocratic system of prison-based gerrymandering. The coalition supports legislation that will count people in prison as residents of their home communities, rather than as residents of the districts in which they are incarcerated. The current system for counting people in prison drastically inflates populations in some communities, thereby violating the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.”

Because New York counts people in prison as being residents of their place of confinement, the political power of their home communities is significantly diluted. More power is given to rural districts with prisons, at the expense of communities with larger voting populations, especially urban communities and communities of color. In New York, seven State Senate districts would not meet minimum residency requirements if the prison population was not counted.

Senator Schneiderman will introduce the legislation in the State Senate on Monday. Assemblyman Jeffries is the lead sponsor of the bill in the Assembly.

“Equal representation under the law benefits everyone,” said Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, the lead sponsor of the bill to end prison-based gerrymandering. “The practice of counting people where they are incarcerated undermines the fundamental principle of ‘one person, one vote’ – it’s undemocratic and reflects a broken system. This legislation is as simple as it is fair: it requires that legislative districts at every level of government contain an equal numbers of residents. The time to act is now, we can’t afford to wait ten more years to right this wrong.”

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said, “This bill is necessary to break the back of the prison industrial complex where some communities benefit from the criminalization of young people who disproportionally come from low-income neighborhoods across the state. Prison-based gerrymandering is unfair, unethical and unconstitutional and we will not rest until the process is changed.”

Andrew Sloane, NYC AIDS Housing Network leader said, “Having people counted where they are imprisoned instead of where they’re from hurts low-income communities & communities of color by taking away their political representation. My family lost so much by losing me for ten years. Why did they, and my community, also have to lose part of their political identity? This is not just an upstate versus downstate issue. For ten years I was moved from Sing Sing in Ossining, Greenhaven in Stormville and Fishscale in Beacon. Every place I moved I met people from urban areas like Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and New York City. All of us knew our bodies were being used to draw political lines, while our hearts, beliefs & political views were missed back home”

“Our communities have suffered without fair and equal representation for long enough,” said Cleo Oliver, Statewide Campaign Coordinator for the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York. “This new statewide coalition will work to restore democracy in New York.”

“Today marks a very important milestone in New York’s attempts to get a fair, accurate and democratic count of all New York residents in the upcoming census,” said Steven Carbo, Senior Program Director at Demos. “We applaud State Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries for their leadership in getting incarcerated persons counted as residents of their home communities, as directed by the state constitution. We will continue to rob those neighborhoods of population-based political power if we exclude prisoners from their census count.”

Eddie Ellis, executive director, Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, Medgar Evers College, CUNY, said, “this critical piece of legislation speaks to the fundamental principle of a participatory democracy, namely: ‘one man/woman, one vote.’ In additional to violating the constitution of the state of New York regarding residency, the current census counting process for incarcerated people also violates the ‘one man/woman, one vote’ principle in as much as it assigns disproportionate representation to certain counties to the detriment of others. As such, this process must be changed.”

“When the Census tallies incarcerated people at prison locations far from home, the picture of the American civic community is distorted, with profound ramifications for our democracy,” says Erika Wood of the Brennan Center for Justice. “The policy gives public officials in prison districts an incentive to build their districts on the backs of ‘ghost voters,’ packing in prisoners who count toward the district size but who are not permitted to vote,” says Wood.

“New York State is undermining the core American principles of fairness and equal representation by pretending that inmates are legitimate constituents of the districts where they are incarcerated,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Our state must end this corruption of the political process and count all New Yorkers as members of their home communities.”

“Common Cause/NY applauds Senator Schneiderman and Assembly Member Jeffries for their leadership in righting an obvious wrong,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY. She added, “In order to achieve fairly drawn legislative and congressional districts and insure the efficient use of scare government resources, it is essential that the census miscount of incarcerated New Yorkers not be the basis for redistricting and distribution of resources. Article II, Sec. 4 of our state constitution demands no less.”

The coalition includes these organizations: Citizen Action of New York, the Prison Policy Initiative, New York Civil Liberties Union, Demos, Common Cause/NY, the Brennan Center for Justice, Fortune Society, Bronx Defenders, Praxis Project, Correctional Association of New York, Community Service Society, New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Center for Law & Social Justice, Nu Leadership Policy Group, Prison Families of New York, Exponents, Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Reducing Recidivism, Western New York Reentry, Back To Basics Outreach Ministries, Community Voices Heard, Prisoners Are People Too and Center for Community Alternatives.

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In response, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, along with Senators Casey and Specter of Pennsylvania, wrote to President Obama to urge him to fully support a rail link between Binghamton and Scranton, PA, which would allow residents of the Southern Tier easy access to New York City.

January 5, 1970 was the last time a passenger train departed Binghamton – just over 30 years ago. Since then, the infrastructure to support passenger rail has deteriorated. Getting the rails into the condition necessary for high-speed rail service would require significant investment – investment that would provide sorely needed jobs.

Most recently, there’s been a lot of discussion – and momentum – around bringing high-speed rail service to the Empire Corridor, which connects Niagara Falls to New York City via Albany, and Montreal to New York City via Plattsburgh and Albany. But this plan doesn’t include the Southern Tier – specifically what’s needed is a link between Binghamton and Scranton, providing Southern Tier residents easy access to New York City.

Since the letter from our New York Senators and the Senators from Pennsylvania was sent to President Obama, Amtrak has initiated a feasibility study to determine if the project can happen.

This is where you come in! We need to show our elected officials and community leaders that residents of the Southern Tier really need high-speed rail service connecting them to Scranton and New York City. We need to make it clear that this is a crucial component of our economic recovery.

We’ve set up an online form for you to email your Senators, the President, your Member of Congress, Assemblymember, State Senator, and other local community leader. Click here to send your message now.

“Connecting the greater Binghamton area…has the potential to unleash tremendous economic energy,” said Senator Schumer. “To make the Southern Tier an even better place to build a business and create new jobs, we must invest in our rail network to increase access to transportation and increase economic growth…”

As residents of the Southern Tier, it is imperative that we speak out now about restoring passenger rail service to our region. It’s a crucial part of our economic recovery, and will spur job growth across the Southern Tier.

We have been doing so much work in the 20th Congressional District because Rep. Murphy has remained non-committal at nearly every part of the health care reform process. It wasn’t until his “no” vote on the House health care bill that we were absolutely sure where he stood.

That vote was a surprise to many of his supporters – and a disappointment – because during his campaign he pledged to support Health Care for America Now’s principles (here’s the video). We are encouraged now, though, because as he agreed to wear the HCAN sticker he has reaffirmed his commitment to real health care reform and HCAN’s principles.

Those principles remain the same as when Congressman Murphy originally committed to them, almost a year ago. Health care reform must make health care more affordable, be accessible to all, and be funded through progressive, not regressive, taxation. Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts and the impending 59 to 41 makeup of the Senate changed nothing. The majority of Americans remain committed to health care reform and, if anything, are calling for more robust reform, not weakening the legislation further.

We appreciate Congressman Murphy’s reaffirmation of his commitment to health care reform and call on him to finish the job. The process can not and must not be slowed down – reform must not be done in pieces. There must be reform and it must happen this year. No Senate victory should be used as political cover to sell out the American people for behemoth insurance companies. Let’s finish this now and let’s finish this right.

The stakes are high. If big business like health insurance companies, oil companies, and Wall Street investment firms are allowed to spend billions to get candidates elected, the voices of ordinary people across America will be silenced.

Supreme Court Opens Floodgates to Unlimited Corporate Campaign Spending

Public Financing of Elections Reform Needed Now!

Albany, NY – The Supreme Court’s broad and unprecedented decision today to unleash the millions of dollars in corporate coffers to influence elections and our political process highlights the urgent need for campaign finance reform in Albany.

Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, said, “In a system where wealthy donors and corporate interests already have a strangle-hold on legislation that is in the public’s interest, today’s Supreme Court decision has dealt a severe blow to our democracy.” Scharff added, “Now, the Congress and the state legislature must pass public financing of elections if voters, instead of big corporations and lobbyists, are to ever again control what happens in our State and our nation.”

With the passage of the ethics bill by the Legislature yesterday, the Governor’s proposal for public financing of elections, the Assembly’s public financing bill and the calls to clean up Albany from citizens around the State, we have reached a critical moment when we can create an electoral process that New Yorkers can be proud of.

The 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United has reversed a long-standing ban on corporations’ ability to use unlimited funds to advocate for political outcomes in their interests. By allowing campaign ads that can mirror the message of a candidate or attack an opponent, the Court has increased the already-enormous power of wealthy special interests in our democracy. Everyone will pay the price in legislation that benefits corporations rather than the public.

Citizen Action of New York will be joining organizations and citizens across New York in strongly advocating for public financing of elections to counter this radical change in campaign financing. A public financing option for New York state candidates would protect the democratic process in New York; Congressional action is needed to protect the Congress from the exponential increase of corporate money in the political process that will undermine the voices of ordinary citizens and contribute further to the political alienation and cynicism of average voters.

“From deregulation of the financial industry, to the loss of the public option in health care reform, wealthy corporate interests are already using their influence to increase their profits at the expense of consumers and our country’s economic health,” said Karen Scharff. “Today’s court decision will place our government in the hands of the wealthiest corporations unless a new system is put into place to enable candidates to run for office with grassroots voter support and public funds.”

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