Ban Ends Far More Than Prisoners

Yo pinte mi libertad = "I PAINTED MY FREEDOM" (photo by Andy Kropa)

Support the Arts in Prison

The Prison Creative Arts Project

September 27 2008 Notes from a workshop held at Critical Resistance in Oakland California

From: prison-arts-coalition@googlegroups.com [mailto:prison-arts-coalition@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lizzy

Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 4:49 PM

To: Prison Arts Coalition

Subject: {Prison Arts Coalition} Notes from CR-10 - also in Files section

Buzz and Tory spoke to what brought us to this point (ways some of us have met nationally, history of moving toward a real coalition), and described agenda of the workshop.

Emily facilitated a sharing of names of those in the room, as well as names of programs

Allie facilitated process of gathering written information: name, program name and contact info, email, and one central question or concern or reason they desire a coalition.

Suzanne lead brainstorm on what we need to move toward an actual coalition.

Groups exploring funding, coalition development and website creation met.

Judith facilitated report from groups.

Material on Handout – Starting Thoughts on a Prison Arts Coalition:

Inclusive: formerly incarcerated individuals and other individuals who have engaged in creative activity inside prisons and juvenile facilities, acting in alliance with individuals and organizations active for prison reform and abolition.

Advocate for access to the arts and other forms of support for incarcerated individuals.

Seek funding, including funding for incarcerated individuals when they return home and wish to continue as actors, artists, and writers.

Advocate for prisoners’ rights.

Bear witness and bring the voices and images of prisoners to public attention

Resources toward Prison Arts Network

Web

Community Arts Network http://www.communityarts.net/archivefiles/corrections/index.php

Prison Arts Network

http://www.prisonarts.info/

Arts in Criminal Justice Conference

http://www.artsincriminaljustice.org/aicj/public/home.htm

PCAP’s site (with resources)

www.prisonarts.org

Judith Tannenbaum’s website. Lots of links and information (including manual for artists working in prison) on prison arts page http://www.judithtannenbaum.com

Books

Creativity Held Captive (excellent handbook for artists working in prison, written by Toni McConnel who’s done time herself) http://logoria.com/CreativityHeldCaptive.htm

Teaching the Arts Behind Bars, edited by Rachel Williams (cover art by Anthony Papa ) http://www.upne.com/1-55553-569-0.html

Handbooks prepared by PEN Prison Writing Program

http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/234

　WEB

Group Brainstorm

Existing projects

Blog space – story/art share

Social networking

List existing resources

List upcoming events/feature art

Media

Publication list

Mapping of resources

Small Group Notes

Create our own website?

Interactive blog?

Website takes money (especially a good one). Also a lot of opportunity (video conferencing; keeping in contact) Do we know anyone who can develop a website?

People coming out of prison as the group to develop a site?

Might an art school take it on?

Great Lakes Urban Exchange – CCS students created, blog space, art exchange Gallery 555 might be able to help Google map showing who is in your community and who is elsewhere Sell artwork on the site?

Helping people with their re-entry by involving them For now, creating a simpler program – google group Make a timeline of goals Web developer in Michigan SolveMedia Sandy Jaszczak consultant/owner

(22456 Beach

Street/St. Clair Shores MI 48226 www.esolvemedia.com sandy@esolvemedia.com 313.330-0880 Formerly incarcerated persons caucus at CR10 also wants to blog – fits the group’s goal What pages do we want on our blog? Resource list Existing sites (see list handed out) have lots of resources but static sites; blog will allow

networking

Will blogger let several people be in charge of the blog/ administrators? Should we limit?

Redundancy? too messy if many can post?

Blog can be a placeholder for the website, to update on website Be user-friendly, available and accessible for people coming out Website Mary likes http://www.kcad.edu/

Taking Action

Lizzie Baskerville will create google group – as soon as she receives contact info Julia Taylor will create blog – within two weeks Ellen will moderate blog Amber will take info off of google group and post onto blog when we want info to be public

Allie will talk to web-knowledgeable friends to get advice and leads – within a month Lizzie will also investigate website design/construction

Caitlyn will be part of networking in NY to begin archives of organizations Meghan will help compile West Coast resources Evan will add to Bay area resources/supply resources Lynne Elizabeth will help with resource section Judith has tons of resources she’ll make available Jenn will gather theater suggestions, write up stories/suggestions/ etc.

Alex will contribute work coming out of Santa Cruz and dedicate time looking for cheaper open-source software Mary will gather stories of people coming out on radio and link to website Laura interested in layout/design of blog/website, can contribute ideas, will communicate with Mary

　COALITION DEVELOPMENT

Group Brainstorm

Regional coordinators

Knowledge share

Structure – leadership planning committee Share expertise Partner organizations Recruitment/outreach/diversity Identify who will make moves Other ways to connect Voices of incarcerated/formally incarcerated folks in decision-making

Small Group Notes

How do we include inmates in/out, (recidivism), who is included in the coalition, is it broad, flexible enough?

How do we build trust, esp. for prisoners who don’t trust outside organizations?

Can we (groups) vouch for each other? How can we validate our organizations esp. among prisoners?

What were the initial goals made during the Philly conference for coalition? On the one hand we want to be expansive, but need a common bond.

Local connections that are part of a broader coalition – ideally have someone in all 50 states.

A community (groups have similar goals); coalition (to support each other and provide new ideas

One goal, model – AIDS quilt, we together will talk about the effect we have on helping to end injustices

One goal is to be a support system for each other Platform for coalition – first step to communicate with each other Develop a unifying platform (how do we communicate as we create Mission Statement) – talking to both in and out.

Inclusive – connect all people doing prison work, identify who is drawn to work Develop a new meeting – who facilitates? Everyone involved in prison work or does it need some people leading the movement for coalition? When do we meet again?

Develop a model

Who (which people) have the energy? Identify the people who will put in the time to lead and solidify this coalition building. Who will take on the tasks?

Who will do funding? Sustainable young energetic person to take over, make it sustainable.

Hard for people who are already immersed n prison work – need new energy and funding Reliable people and diverse people, ability to work through their failures.

Prison resources, talk about system’s dysfunctions Art exists all over – expansion – avoid distraction, keep it focused CR provided an outlet to see the whole picture of poverty, halfway houses Are transition houses, halfway houses the glue for people coming out?

Re-entry issue.

Incorporating job skills into the art – contributes to the bigger issue of housing, jobs Let’s include all groups working on issues related to prisons Let’s provide a place to inform people to keep continuing their art, job skills, for those in and out, people out there using their art, let’s incorporate this in our structure Informing workers inside of the prison, problems preparing the artist teachers to be more

efficient, to really prepare the teachers, importance of preparing your teachers and

supporting them while they teach

Develop training programs – have this be part of the Mission Statement Show that this is about collaboration and not just "this is my project" and we are teaching

responsibly.

Need next steps, regional directors, connect regions Carsell class should be part of the mission.

Members of this small group

Amy Jo Sayre Roberts aroberts@sci.edu

Michael Key KmichaelKey1@yahoo.com

Emily Rose Emrose77@yahoo.com

Shana Davis davis.shana@gmail.com

Sarah Ross sarahross@yahoo.com

Bok Choy jenell.nyberg@gmail.com

Nina Billone NBillone@berekeley.edu

Aleksandra Zauko Culture.efry@qc.aira.com Phoenix Moore Shaunnie@umich.edu Lacey Janeroberts laceyjaneroberts@yahoo.com Kate Short kateleeshort@gmail.com (510) 452-7425 Bruce Reilly bruha554@gmail.com (401) 286-1507 Steve Emrick (San Quentin) (415) 454-1460 x 1460 Melissa Klein (Rising Voices) melissaklein@riseup.net (415) 351-9429 Chase Finney chasefinney@gmail.com Sarah Carswell sacarswe@gmail.com Sabrina Alli allisabrina@hotmail.com

FUNDING

Group Brainstorm

Mission/Goals/Objectives

Donors with money

Annual membership fee

Resource list for materials

Regional fundraising events

Partner organizations

Annual showcase to raise money

Small Group Notes

Steps:

1) Find artists and organizations that are interested

2) Training to members

3) Use the web to connect people, some resources already exist

4) Research and finding out who is out there (use list from

Philadelphia)

5) Apply for grants

6) Regional communication and contact

MISC

Group Brainstorm

Research re: facilities – how to access

Touring shows nationally

How to guide

Forum for sharing

Way of sharing the art, made widely available (scholarly journals, publications list) Other stakeholders (lawyers, gov, etc) Educational workshops Encouraging universities to incorporate the work

Notes from group gathered on Sunday 9/28

Attending were:

Nina Billone

Bruce Reilly

Melissa Klein

K Michael Key

Tory Sammartino

Buzz Alexander

Allie Horwitz

Suzanne Gothard

Judith Tannenbaum

Caroline (?) from Texas

Tory and Buzz had just attended a workshop offered by the Peace Development Fund http://www.peacedevelopmentfund.org/ and felt this was a possible funder to consider.

Focus on next steps (see below)

Talk about interest in training to do this work and recognition that down the road perhaps this is something some group of us can provide.

Meanwhile, be sure to emphasize the advice-related resources that now exist. Also, hope that the blog Julia sets up will allow people to ask specific questions and for advice. Report that many have talked about the need to focus on doing this work responsibly.

Similarly, report of lots of interest in knowing what’s already out there (people doing this work, programs). Again, this is information we can intend to gather, but in the meanwhile emphasize existing lists (especially material Krista developed http://www.prisonarts.info/ and CAN site http://www.communityarts.net/archivefiles/corrections/index.php

Also Judith’s website prison arts page (www.judithtannenbaum.com)

Suggestion that we develop a questionnaire that people can take as they teach/facilitate to get the input of people inside about what would be useful to them in a coalition.

Suggestion that someone figure out a way to organize email addresses and material regionally.

We temporarily settled with name Prison Arts Coalition. We recognize some of the limitations of this (not all the work is in prison, some in jail, some in juvenile settings, etc) but this seems the most general (and also simple – allowing people to find us) we could come up with. Suggestion that we describe the nuance in our mission statement.

Next Steps

Buzz is going to contact Kazu Haga from Peace Development Fund Judith is going to contact her Soros Fellow friend who said he would talk with Soros about funding (this will be an informal first step contact) Judith will draft a letter to Claudine K. Brown at Nathan Cummings to report on what we accomplished this week-end; Buzz will then work on letter with Judith Allie, Emily, Suzanne and Judith are going to draft a Mission Statement that they will send to this Sunday group for input, and then on to the whole group Melissa will join Allie, Emily, Suzanne and Judith to create a list of coalition programmatic goals that we’ll send to the group for input Suzanne will also organize Sat. workshop attendees’ names, email addresses, programs etc regionally Once the google group and blog have been up and operating for a short while, Bruce will create a post looking for someone interested in volunteering to create a website for us (perhaps a college student or design student). Bruce will contact Mary who is also interested in this aspect of the tasks ahead.

Next step needed (I don’t have in my notes that anyone signed up to do

this): Drafting questionnaire to be taken inside for input of people in prison. Bruce, were you going to work on this?

Goals described by Buzz, Tory, Nick, Judith and others in the alliance that met after the October 2007 Art & Criminal Justice conference in Philly

1) A highly interactive website, for contact, conversation, resource sharing, calendar, organizing of meetings, updates on issues, and more. In the meeting following the conference, we proposed a very developed internet resource, contact, and conversation site.

2) A series of meetings of 14-20 people over the next two years. Our proposal builds on the history and models of the Blue Mountain Artists Opposed to Massive Incarceration meetings in the first years of this decade, the 2006 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts gathering in Maine, and California’s Arts-in-Corrections state-wide conferences in the 1980s. These meetings are to be inclusive: the formerly incarcerated, young people in the field, and people working alone in isolated parts of the country should be able to attend. The meetings could be regional or national, and their content will depend on the conveners. The effort will be to "think into the harder places of our work" and to address issues of any kind. The gatherings might include prison activists from outside the arts and policy makers, depending on the nature of the gathering.

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_________________________

BOSTON TO JOIN NYS IN ART BAN???

Socialist Worker Online

http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/568/568_08_PrisonersArt.shtml

VIEWS AND VOICES
Taking away prisoners’ art
December 9, 2005 | Page 8

AN ONLINE art show sponsored by New York’s Fortune Society generated national attention recently because one of the participants in the show was serial killer Alfred J. Gaynor.

The Fortune Society and advocates believe that art and other prison programs are therapeutic and rehabilitative. The auction is a way for artists to show and sell their artwork, generating small income in order to buy art supplies.

“Learning how to paint behind bars saved my life,” said artist Anthony Papa, who served 12 years of a 15-to-life sentence under the New York Rockefeller Drug Laws.

On March 29, 2002, New York State Corrections Commissioner Glen Goord ended 35 years of artistic _expression in the New York State prison system by banning the sale of art by prisoners. Before the ban, prisoners in New York were allowed to exhibit their art once a year in the legislative office building in Albany. The art was sold, and 50 percent of the profits were donated to the Crime Victims Board.

In the 2002 show, however, a painting created by a serial killer was displayed. The press found out about it, and the political process went into overkill trying to look tough on crime. The public reasoning behind Goord’s decision was that he felt it was not worth the anguish crime victims feel to allow imprisoned artists to sell their art. “For many men and women in prison, art is a life-sustaining source,” said Papa, who is the author of 15 to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom and currently works with the Drug Policy Alliance. “For most of them, earning money selling their art enables them to buy food and toiletries and help support their families in the outside world.”

Now, Massachusetts appears to be following New York’s lead. In response to sensationalistic media, state Reps. Cheryl Rivera and Peter Koutoujian introduced bills that would prohibit inmate artists receive any profits from their art. “Creating and selling art instills a sense of self-esteem, which is a very important element in re-entering society,” Papa said. “Instead of attacking programs like this, we should be expanding them.”
Tony Newman, Director of Communications, Drug Policy Alliance

For more information, see www.15yearstolife.com/Artban.htm on the Web.

_________________

http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1134377013208260.xml&coll=1&thispage=4

Over 1,000 signatures were collected for a petition demanding Governor Pataki to restore the annual Correction on Canvas Art Exhibit and the ability of artists in NYS prisons to sell their work. Letters were also annexed from individuals that run art programs for prisoners pointing out the importance of such programs for its theraputic and rehabilitative value. The petition was submitted to Governor Pataki and hand delivered to Chauncy Parker his Criminal Justice Director. I generated some publicity sending opinion pieces to the NY Times and Newsday. (see below) Also I held a protest in front of the governors NYC office. At the same time I sought help from many diferrent legal organizations including the NYCLU. I could not get anyone to help me No action was taken by the governor and today the ban still stands. The arbitrary and capricious actions by the NYS Department of Corrections should be challenged. Already, similar actions have been seen in the State of Californial and Michigan.

What You Can Do!! Write Governor George Pataki and demand that the Correction on Canvas Art Exhibit be restored along with the ability of artists to sell their art!!

Print this petition and get everyone you know to sign it. After that the instructions are on the file.

Artists Network of Refuse & Resist!
... For more information call Anthony Papa at (212) 596-9445. To see Anthony's
art go to: http://www.15yearstolife.com/ Ban on Prison Art Show. ...www.artistsnetwork.org/news3/news146.html - 12k

Ban Ends Far More Than Prisoners' Art Sales

NewsDay, May 16, 2002

New York State Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord, by banning the sale of art by prisoners, has effectively canceled artistic expression in the New York State prison system.He has also eliminated the annual "Corrections on Canvas" art exhibit, which was created by the State Senate and the Department of Corrections in 1967.By doing this, Goord has erased a strong tradition that made life more meaningful in New York's gulags.

For the last 35 years, prisoners in New York State had been allowed to exhibit their art once a year in the legislative office building in Albany. The art was sold, and 50 percent of the profits were donated to the Crime Victims Board, an organization that provides services for crime victims, including financial compensation related to their victimization.But controversy surrounded last year's show, which included paintings and sketches by serial killer Arthur Shawcross. The political process went into overkill, as officials tried to look tough on crime. Because of one individual, 67,000 prisoners were punished.

The public reasoning behind Goord's decision was he felt that allowing imprisoned artists to sell their art wasn't worth the anguish that crime victims feel, knowing that prisoners convicted of harming them or their loved ones were having their art shown and sold.But I know first hand what art can mean to prisoners. I discovered my own artistic ability while serving a 15-years-to-life sentence for a nonviolent crime under the Rockefeller drug laws

When I entered Sing Sing, a maximum security prison, I was lost in its negative environment. But the discovery of art allowed me to maintain my humanity. The first year I started painting, I won a blue ribbon at the annual "Corrections on Canvas" show, and I knew I had found something that would help me get through the difficult times ahead.Several years later, in 1990, the art and music budget was cut in New York State prisons, leaving a great void. More than 60 positions that had been held by civilians teaching music and art were terminated. I volunteered to teach an art class at Sing Sing and further discovered its therapeutic value. Art was a survival tool - a cathartic vehicle to transcend the negativity of the environment.

The canvas became an outlet to deal with anger and bitterness in a socially acceptable way. Men who were fighting each other now were instead painting each other's portraits - living proof of art's transformative power to bring a sense of calm and fulfillment, elements that become lost because of imprisonment. In 1995, my self portrait "15 Years to Life" was exhibited at the Whitney Museum. This led to exposure to my case, and Gov. George Pataki granted me clemency in 1996.

Today, I travel around the country talking about prison art and its value. For many men and women artists in prison, art is a life-sustaining source. For most of them, earning money selling their art enables them to buy food and toiletries and help support their families in the outside world. But more important, it instills self-esteem - a crucial element both in prison and in re-entering society. The "Corrections" annual art show served a dual purpose. It helped in the rehabilitative process of prisoners. More importantly, it provided a healing process by enabling prisoners to show remorse for their crimes by allowing them to donate half or more of their proceeds to crime victims. To end this tradition is wrong, and to use it as a political tool is despicable.

Hundreds of people said as much in front of Pataki's New York City office last week, signing a petition demanding that the exhibit and the ability of prisoners to sell their art be restored. The governor should respond to his constituents and reverse Goord's decision.

Commissioner's Ban on Inmates' Art Sales Ends Annual Show
By ROBERT F. WORTH
New York Times, March 30, 2002

The New York State corrections commissioner announced yesterday that he had banned the sale of artwork created by prison inmates, saying the benefits of such sales are not worth the anguish they cause to crime victims and their families.

The decision by Commissioner Glenn S. Goord ends an annual spring art show, "Corrections on Canvas," that had been held for 35 years in the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Mr. Goord's decision also eliminates the sale or display of inmates' art in galleries or at arts and crafts shows.

The state's 67,000 inmates are free to produce any kind of art, but they can no longer profit from it, said James Flateau, a spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services. Since 1996, inmates have kept half the profits from most art sales, with the rest going to the state's Crime Victims Board. Last year, the Albany show earned $5,394 for the state.

"The original idea was to show inmates doing something that was perceived as positive and that contributed to their rehabilitation," Mr. Flateau said. "In more recent years it has been perceived as the state providing a forum for inmates to profit."

Last year there were protests after the Albany show featured work by Arthur Shawcross, a serial killer who was convicted of killing 11 women in the Rochester area in the 1980's and is now serving a 250-year sentence at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in the Catskills. Mr. Shawcross's artworks included sketches of Princess Diana and Santa Claus, with asking prices of more than $500 each, far more than those for most of the other artworks on display.

After the show opened, Gov. George E. Pataki told Mr. Goord to ban notorious violent felons from future shows. Mr. Goord, who had always been uncomfortable with the show, decided several months ago to go further, banning all violent criminals, Mr. Flateau said. He then decided to ban the sale of all inmates' art.

"It's a very distressing move," said Robert Gangi, the director of the Correctional Association of New York, a prison watchdog group. "Art can contribute to the rehabilitative process, and when you take away the incentive for recognition, you are telling inmates that their art is not worthy of public display."

He added that many inmates were in prison for nonviolent offenses, and that to penalize them along with serial killers like Mr. Shawcross was unfair.

Buzz Alexander, the director of the Prison Creative Arts Project in Ann Arbor, Mich., said a number of states have inmate art exhibit programs. "It helps keep prisons safe, because inmates doing creative work are in a far more positive state of mind," he said. "It's puzzling to me that anyone would take that away."

Anthony Papa, a former convict who studied art at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and who gained wide acclaim after his self-portrait was exhibited in the Whitney Museum, said: "This is unbelievable. Once this program falls in one state, it could happen all over.

"Art saved my life," said Mr. Papa, who was granted clemency for a drug conviction by Mr. Pataki, and released in 1997. "It helped me transcend the negativity of prison."

On April 20, 2002 Anthony Papa created the installation below to express the outrage of concerned citizens and imprisoned artists. Commissioner Glenn Goord was crucified on a cross made of mat board obtained from Sing Sing prison when the artist was a prisoner there (1985-1997) Goord who is the supreme leader of the new Nazi administration of the NYS Department of Corrections has led the department on a downward spiral to become the worst prison system in the America. From the recent release of a report by the Correctional Association which outlined the tragedy of the mentally ill in NYS prisons to the in adequate health care scandal this administration continues to abuse its prisoners with eerie similar actions taken by the Nazi's in Germany. The departments logo (below) was replaced by an image taken from a photo of a Nazi officer's belt which displayed the new order. The officers below firing their rifles signifies the death of artistic expression in NYS prisons that are housed in human cargo warehouses (lists of them are in red)

This was a little after 9 o'clock yesterday morning at PS 78, the Robert
Wagner Jr. Elementary School, which is tucked into the first floor of one of
the new high-rises by the water in Long Island City.

The bright lights were humming. The sign said "Election District 19."
Children's drawings were taped to the walls.

The woman nodded and ran a finger down her list of names. "Here you are,"
she said. "Sign your name and take this card to the man over there."

After 17 years - 12 in prison, five on parole and one false start in
September - Anthony Papa, painter, ex-felon and dedicated drug-law reformer,
was finally exercising his constitutional right to vote. As far as New York
State is concerned, he's finally paid his debt and is permitted to vote
again.

That may not sound like much to some people. This is a country, after all,
where two-thirds of the people don't even bother voting in most elections.

But try telling that to a man who's had his right to vote taken away. Watch
him turn into a voting zealot, right before your eyes.

"Actually, I tried to vote in the primary in September," Tony Papa said
before he stepped inside the big booth yesterday. "I had trouble with the
machine. It was kind of embarrassing, actually."

Papa's troubles go back to 1985, when he went to prison under New York's
Rockefeller drug laws. It was his first - and his last - criminal
conviction.

"I met a guy in a bowling alley where I used to bowl," he recalled. "He
asked me if I wanted to make some money. He said he heard I was having a
tough time, which I was.

"Business was slow. I had rented space in a garage, installing car alarms
and radios. I was behind in my rent. I had a wife and a young daughter.

"This guy told me, 'Bring this envelope to a place in Mount Vernon. You'll
make 500 bucks.' I went into the place. Must have been 20 undercover cops
came out of nowhere."

Papa went to trial - stupidly. He was convicted after two days. Obviously,
he was a tiny player in the drug business. But under the mandatory
sentencing of the rigid Rockefeller laws, the judge had no room for mercy.
He sent the defendant to Sing Sing for 15 years to life.

Papa did his time productively. He found inside himself the talent to paint.
His artwork was praised by serious critics. He painted a gut-wrenching
self-portrait he called "15 years to life."

"I looked into a mirror one day and saw an individual who was spending the
most productive years of his life in prison," Papa said. "Seven years later,
that painting was hanging in the Whitney Museum of Art."

That amazing prison achievement got some pickup in the media. Art dealers
wrote letters, asking about other work. Pressure began to build. He was a
first-time nonviolent offender. He had all this talent. Wasn't 12 years
enough? On Jan. 23, 1997, Gov. George Pataki signed a clemency order,
releasing the artist-inmate three years early.

Papa stayed busy. He went to work as a legal assistant at a large Midtown
firm. "From the Rockefeller Law to Rockefeller Center," he liked to say. He
joined the fight to reform the Rockefeller drug laws. He lobbied in Albany.
He traveled to Washington. He helped to create a group called the New York
Mothers of the Disappeared, adding the voices of family members to the
drug-reform debate.

Pataki courted Papa and his friends, promising big changes. But the
proposals from the governor's office added up to tiny reforms.

"If he wanted to change these laws," Papa said, "Pataki could go into an
office with Shelly Silver and come out in an hour with a compromise."

When the governor's race heated up, Tony Papa made a commercial for Tom
Golisano, the rich businessman from Rochester who wasn't a natural fit on
many issues - but was dead-on with the issue of drug-law reform. His
drug-reform commercials brought the issue millions of dollars in publicity.

He stepped into the booth. He pulled the curtain. He was in there for
several minutes, making sure he did everything right. Then he pulled the
curtain back.

"Some people have said to me, 'The governor gave you your freedom. How could
you not vote for him?' It's a good question.

"I thank him for my freedom," Tony Papa said. "But he's been selling us
nothing but a dream. It really breaks your heart to see these old women on a
cane or a walker, dying while their son or daughter stays in prison.

"So many other people are counting on us. I couldn't waste my vote."
Copyright (c) 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Nov. 5, 2002 -- Anthony Papa, 47, lost his right to vote 17 years ago. Today, he cast his vote for the first time in over 25 years.

"It went well," said Papa, after voting at the Robert F. Wagner Jr. High School in Queens. "Finally my social debt is over. I resurfaced."

Papa is one of more than 100,000 New York State residents who lost his voting privileges when he was convicted of a felony. Although he had no prior record, Papa was sentenced to 15 years to life in 1985, at the age of 30, for selling more than four ounces of cocaine to an undercover cop in a sting operation set up by a bowling partner. Governor Pataki released Papa in 1997 through an executive clemency.When Papa was released, he registered to vote,eager toexercise a right he had done only once when he was 19 years old.Instead he learned that casting a vote would cost him a parole violation. He wouldn't be allowed to vote againuntil his parole was over.

The New York State Constitution eliminates the voting rights of prisoners while serving time on felony convictions and while on parole. Only two states, Maine and Vermont, permit prisoners to vote. Nationwide, the voting rules for released prisoners vary enormously from state to state. According to a report by the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice watchdog agency, 3.9 million Americans, or one in 50 adults, have currently or permanently lost their right to vote due to a felony conviction.

While doing time at Sing Sing prison in New York, Papa became an artist and activist, studying the works of Diego Rivera and liberation theology. One piece he painted, entitled "Vote" depicts hands coming through the bars of a fence and dropping the American flag into a ballot box. On the bars are written "education," "healthcare," "housing." He recently produced a commercial in support of Independent candidate for governor Tom Golisano and actively works toward repealing the Rockefeller drug laws. He said laws that prevent felons from voting are racist and inflicts a stigma that is hard to shake.

"It’s like Jim Crow all over again," he said.
Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association, an organization that works to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws, agreed. "The key problem with these laws is that they foster an assault by government on communities of color," he said. Gangi added that an estimated 135,000 residents of New York State cannot vote in this election due to felony convictions. More than half of these disenfranchised voters are black men.

Although New York State felons lose their voting rights while in jail, they are counted by the U.S. Census as citizens of the counties in which they are held. Since 1982, 38 new prisons have been built in upstate counties. The surge in the prison population, the majority of whom come from New York City, has granted those upstate counties greater political clout in terms of redistricting efforts and state per capita budget allocations.

"The prisoners are counted as residents of a community without the ability to influence the governments of those communities," he said. "The communities they come from lose out."

Voting rights activists say that these communities, primarily urban with black and Latino populations, continue to lose even after the prisoners are released. "There’s a lot of mis-information about who can vote and who can’t," said Juan Cartegena, general counsel for the Community Service Society, a social welfare agency that works to encourage voter participation in New York City. Cartegena said that his organization has been conducting street level voter registration drives for the past two years. "It’s not uncommon for our volunteers run into people who say they can’t vote because of a past conviction," he said. But more often than not, said Cartegena, those people can vote. A misdemeanor conviction does not eliminate voting rights. Felons who have received suspended sentences, or are out on probation, do not lose their right to vote.

Papa finished his parole last February and said the right to vote has restored him his full citizenship. "People say they don’t vote because their candidate won’t win," he said. "But just being able to cast my vote today, I was a winner."

The Sentencing Project
... Prisoners Released in 1994." • Recent reports: on the impact of lifetime welfare
ban for felony drug offenders; on states moderating sentencing policies; on ...
Description: Information about crime, courts, sentencing, criminal justice policy analysis, punishment, alternatives..

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Right to Vote

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