![\"Hartford](\"\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/newsthumbs\/courant-7-2-12-250w.png\")
<\/a> <\/p>\nThe Hartford Courant<\/i> is cheering the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Maryland law ending prison-based gerrymandering. In an editorial on Monday, the paper called on the Connecticut Legislature to follow Maryland’s lead and count incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes.<\/p>\n
As the editorial proclaimed:<\/p>\n
\nThough it fell in a rather busy week and didn’t grab much attention, another Supreme Court decision last week should have ramifications for Connecticut. The ruling affirmed the constitutionality of a Maryland law that counts incarcerated persons as residents of their last legal home addresses, not the prisons, for redistricting purposes.<\/p>\n
This is the fairer way to do it. The decision should be an impetus for Connecticut to follow suit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Connecticut has a head start on ending prison-based gerrymandering, with an active campaign<\/a> already in place. Although the effort<\/a> in the previous legislative session was unsuccessful, the Courant<\/i> editorial insists that it must be a priority for the next legislative session.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
I note that Connecticut has been on a long march towards fairer redistricting<\/a> for the last half a century. Fifty years ago, districts were apportioned in a way that gave the residents of some towns hundreds of times the influence of residents in the urban centers. Connecticut rightly fixed that injustice, and ending prison-based gerrymandering is the next logical step<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Also, since Maryland-style legislation counts incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes only, the Connecticut legislature could end prison-based gerrymandering without worrying about inadvertently impacting funding formulas. Political power, not money, is at stake here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The editorial concludes with a strong point about fairness:<\/p>\n
\nThe vast majority of inmates leave prison, and most go home. That’s where they should be counted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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