Mass Incarceration

The competition, designed by the Common Cause Student Action Alliance, invited youth ages 14-28 to raise their voices on any set of nine democracy issues, including access to voting, campaign finance reform, fighting against gerrymandering, and more.

Not all of those honored on this list are registered lobbyists. But they are all key players who the nation’s biggest companies, advocacy groups, labor unions and trade associations turn to when they want their voices heard in the nation’s capital. The ranks of policy experts, influencers and advocates run deep in Washington, but these are the people who stand out for delivering results for their clients in the halls of Congress and the administration. ... GRASSROOTS: Karen Hobert Flynn and Aaron Scherb, Common Cause 

Our democracy works best when every person, regardless of what they look like, where they live, or how much money they make, has equal voice in determining the direction of our country. But for too long, our racist history of policing and mass incarceration has undermined that ideal. Compounded with our redistricting processes that have repeatedly put the interests of partisan insiders over the needs of communities, lawmakers have fundamentally and intentionally diminished the power and voice of Black and brown people in our democracy. But here in Pennsylvania, we are finally taking steps in the right direction. This week, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 3-2 to count incarcerated people in their home districts, rather than where they are incarcerated, ending the practice of prison gerrymandering here in the commonwealth.

Pennsylvania becomes the latest state to ensure equitable representation for incarcerated people.

Change is long overdue to a system that has delivered unequal justice to far too many in our state for far too long. In the year since the tragic murder of George Floyd, we have seen the conviction of Mr. Floyd’s murderer, but Minnesotans are still waiting for justice. Minnesotans deserve real reforms to prevent what happened to Mr. Floyd, and others, from ever happening again. Our legislative leaders must make commonsense policing reforms a top priority and they must not come up short again.

I am encouraged by the decision in the Chauvin case but I am in no way relieved. The criminal justice system has a history of failure in similar cases. This one conviction does not absolve a system that has disappointed the families of Michael Brown, Antwon Rose, Breonna Taylor, Walter Scott and so many others.