Connecticut considers bill to end prison gerrymandering
The Connecticut Joint Committee on Judiciary heard testimony in support of legislation to count incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes.
by Leah Sakala, April 2, 2013
Will Connecticut be the next state to bring an end to prison gerrymandering?
Yesterday Peter testified before the Connecticut Legislature’s Joint Committee on Judiciary in support of HB 6679, a bill that would end prison gerrymandering by requiring incarcerated people to be counted at their home addresses for redistricting purposes (you can watch Peter’s testimony at CT-N starting at 5 hours 38 minutes).
Leah Aden of the NAACP LDF submitted testimony in support of the bill, and David McGuire of the ACLU of Connecticut testified in support as well.
Our allies at Common Cause in Connecticut have been instrumental in getting this issue on the legislature’s agenda, and there’s a broad base of support from the public and the press for ending prison gerrymandering in Connecticut. Editorial boards such as the Hartford Courant and the Norwich Bulletin have called on the legislature to pass legislation like that in New York, Maryland, Delaware, and California to ensure that the Census Bureau’s method of tabulating prison populations doesn’t skew democracy in Connecticut.
