Philadelphia citizens have a rare opportunity to bring badly needed transparency and accountability to the city’s jails in the May 20 primary election.
A pivotal measure on the ballot would create a new prison oversight board and office with power to bring problems to light and hold city officials to account.
The Prison Society is joining with members of City Council and organizations including the Abolitionist Law Center, the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Committee of Seventy, and Mural Arts Philadelphia to advocate for the measure.
“Now we need you, the public, to do your part,” said the Prison Society’s prison monitoring director, Noah Barth. “On May 20, please vote YES on ballot measure three to create an Office of Prison Oversight and a Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board.”
Why more oversight is needed
In the years since the pandemic, deaths have surged, violence has become rampant, and corrections staff have quit in droves in Philadelphia’s jails. The Prison Society has helped shine a light on deteriorating conditions through 15 walkthroughs of the jails. A federal court has appointed a monitor to enforce a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against the city over jail conditions. The Philadelphia Inquirer and other local press have uncovered abuse and dysfunction.
But in the absence of an oversight body for the city’s jails that is accountable to the public, officials have been slow to take meaningful actions to address the conditions inside. The lack of transparency has enabled the city, under the previous administration, to deny the reality of the crisis.
Under the status quo, Pennsylvania’s largest city, with the largest jail system, has less prison oversight than many much smaller counties in the commonwealth. Philadelphia has a Prison Advisory Board, but it rarely holds meetings, its members are unclear on its role and powers, and it lacks authority to hold city officials accountable. Pennsylvania law requires the state’s more populated counties to have a jail oversight board or a board of inspectors, but it does not apply to Philadelphia. Allegheny County and Delaware County, for example, have jail oversight boards that hold monthly public meetings and are empowered to conduct unannounced inspections, access jail records, and investigate conditions inside. They are composed of elected officials, judges, and three citizen members appointed from the general public.
The proposed Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board would consist of nine members, four appointed by the Mayor, four by the President of City Council, and one by the City Controller. Importantly, it requires at least one member to have experience being incarcerated, and members cannot be employed by the Department of Prisons, Sheriff’s Office, or Police Department, ensuring their independence. The ballot measure would also create a new Office of Prison Oversight that would be empowered to investigate the prisons and provide administrative support to the oversight board.
“To be clear, this ballot measure will not resolve the current crisis at the Philadelphia prisons,” said Claire Shubik-Richards, the Prison Society’s executive director. “But it will create the infrastructure to prevent crises like this in the future.”
Incarcerated people can have a say
Anyone eligible to vote in Philadelphia, even if they are not registered with a political party, can vote on the ballot measure in the May 20 primary. This includes most people who are incarcerated in Philadelphia jails, who stand to benefit the most from greater transparency and accountability in the city’s prisons.
If you have a friend, relative, or loved one incarcerated in the Philly jails, you can help ensure they have a say in this by making them aware of how this election directly impacts them and informing them of their right to vote. If they will not be serving time for a felony on election day and are otherwise eligible, they can cast a mail-in ballot from jail.
Important deadlines
The deadline to register to vote is May 5, and the deadline to apply for a mail ballot is May 13. In both cases, the county election office must receive the completed application forms by this date, either by mail or online.
When registering, incarcerated people should provide their residential address, not the prison address. They can, however, put down the prison address on the mail-in ballot application as the place to send their ballot if they expect to remain incarcerated on election day.
The county election office must receive the completed mail ballot by 8 p.m. on May 20 for the vote to be counted.
