This is the first of three articles celebrating "minor victories" for activists in the Hudson Valley
The current group of Democratic Dutchess County legislators seemed to be almost entirely on board with GOP County Executive Marc Molinaro's plans to build a new, est. 500-bed jail.
However, after 6 members of the End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN), a local group opposed to mass incarceration, spoke to the open Democratic caucus ahead of Monday's County Legislature meeting, something changed.
My best bet is that it was remarks from long-time community activist Mae Parker-Harris that changed the game. Harris combined a mother's heartfelt appeal with the clear political threat that if county Democrats didn't stand against all steps towards jail expansion, they would be voted out of office.
Up for a vote on Monday was a $1.2 million schematic design intended to research the feasibility of a new jail facility either on the site of the old Hudson River Psychiatric Center or expansion of the jail at the current site.
Activists with ENJAN urged county legislators to modify the proposal to focus on treatment options, alternative housing, and community investment or scrap it altogether. Out the the Legislator's 7 Democrats, 5 voted against the GOP design proposal, something that wold have been unthinkable without ENJAN's efforts. Without a doubt, that's a minor victory.
Unfortunately, the legislature did ultimately pass a design bill with only a vaguely-worded nod to treatment and alternative incarceration. While Conservative Party Legislator Jim Doxsey voted against the bill, not a single Republican did the same. Furthermore, both Democratic legislators representing Poughkeepsie, Barbara Jeter-Jackson and Steve White, voted with the Republicans to support the step towards jail expansion.
This illustrates, in vivid colors, Harris' argument about the political bankruptcy of Poughkeepsie Democrats. Nevertheless, the 6 opposing votes have broken the bi-partisan consensus on jail expansion and put the expansionists on the defensive. Only two as after the vote, robo-calls went out to the dissenting legislators' districts, paid for by County Republicans.
This fight is getting vicious, and I think we'd better concede that the opposing side has a monopoly on vitriol. ENJAN doesn't have the money for robo-calls (although we can phone bank) and the political machines of both the Republican and Democratic parties have master the art of attack better than community activists every could.
Much of Wednesday's ENJAN meeting in Poughkeepsie was devoted to strategizing how to best keep up the fight in light of recent developments. Crucially, the question was raised of whether ENJAN might support a compromise whereby temporary "pods" were added to the current jail facility.
The vast majority of ENJAN members strongly rejected this, reaffirming the opposition to all forms of jail expansion written up at the group's founding. A more complex question is how ENJAN should relate to the local political process as a whole. This question centers on whether ENJAN should run/endorse candidates candidates for legislature or remain strictly an outside force.
As an anti-capitalist, it seems clear to me that the issue of mass incarceration and systemic racism (which, lest we forget, is what ENJAN set out to fight) cannot be solved within the framework of our present system. This makes me cautious that any entrance into electoral politics could turn a vibrant, grassroots movement into machine no better than the Republicans and Democrats. Even if we were to get a few things accomplished, would we not become co-opted by the system somewhere along the way?
I don't want to issue a fundamentalist opposition to participating in local politics. However, we must realize that the day we compromise is the day we lose our soul.
Beating this jail requires putting pressure on our political officials and voicing our opposition at every damn legislature meeting. But it will also require winning community resistance, organizing mass demonstrations, and very likely committing civil disobedience at some point. We already have a vision for a radically different system system of criminal justice, and we must fight uncompromisingly toward these ends.
On Wednesday, Dolores Thompson, the first Black American to live in the Hyde Park neighborhood where I grew up, reminded ENJAN that we must "keep our eyes on the prize." In this fight against jail expansion, that's a slogan worth remembering.
The current group of Democratic Dutchess County legislators seemed to be almost entirely on board with GOP County Executive Marc Molinaro's plans to build a new, est. 500-bed jail.
However, after 6 members of the End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN), a local group opposed to mass incarceration, spoke to the open Democratic caucus ahead of Monday's County Legislature meeting, something changed.
My best bet is that it was remarks from long-time community activist Mae Parker-Harris that changed the game. Harris combined a mother's heartfelt appeal with the clear political threat that if county Democrats didn't stand against all steps towards jail expansion, they would be voted out of office.
Up for a vote on Monday was a $1.2 million schematic design intended to research the feasibility of a new jail facility either on the site of the old Hudson River Psychiatric Center or expansion of the jail at the current site.
Activists with ENJAN urged county legislators to modify the proposal to focus on treatment options, alternative housing, and community investment or scrap it altogether. Out the the Legislator's 7 Democrats, 5 voted against the GOP design proposal, something that wold have been unthinkable without ENJAN's efforts. Without a doubt, that's a minor victory.
Unfortunately, the legislature did ultimately pass a design bill with only a vaguely-worded nod to treatment and alternative incarceration. While Conservative Party Legislator Jim Doxsey voted against the bill, not a single Republican did the same. Furthermore, both Democratic legislators representing Poughkeepsie, Barbara Jeter-Jackson and Steve White, voted with the Republicans to support the step towards jail expansion.
This illustrates, in vivid colors, Harris' argument about the political bankruptcy of Poughkeepsie Democrats. Nevertheless, the 6 opposing votes have broken the bi-partisan consensus on jail expansion and put the expansionists on the defensive. Only two as after the vote, robo-calls went out to the dissenting legislators' districts, paid for by County Republicans.
This fight is getting vicious, and I think we'd better concede that the opposing side has a monopoly on vitriol. ENJAN doesn't have the money for robo-calls (although we can phone bank) and the political machines of both the Republican and Democratic parties have master the art of attack better than community activists every could.
Much of Wednesday's ENJAN meeting in Poughkeepsie was devoted to strategizing how to best keep up the fight in light of recent developments. Crucially, the question was raised of whether ENJAN might support a compromise whereby temporary "pods" were added to the current jail facility.
The vast majority of ENJAN members strongly rejected this, reaffirming the opposition to all forms of jail expansion written up at the group's founding. A more complex question is how ENJAN should relate to the local political process as a whole. This question centers on whether ENJAN should run/endorse candidates candidates for legislature or remain strictly an outside force.
As an anti-capitalist, it seems clear to me that the issue of mass incarceration and systemic racism (which, lest we forget, is what ENJAN set out to fight) cannot be solved within the framework of our present system. This makes me cautious that any entrance into electoral politics could turn a vibrant, grassroots movement into machine no better than the Republicans and Democrats. Even if we were to get a few things accomplished, would we not become co-opted by the system somewhere along the way?
I don't want to issue a fundamentalist opposition to participating in local politics. However, we must realize that the day we compromise is the day we lose our soul.
Beating this jail requires putting pressure on our political officials and voicing our opposition at every damn legislature meeting. But it will also require winning community resistance, organizing mass demonstrations, and very likely committing civil disobedience at some point. We already have a vision for a radically different system system of criminal justice, and we must fight uncompromisingly toward these ends.
On Wednesday, Dolores Thompson, the first Black American to live in the Hyde Park neighborhood where I grew up, reminded ENJAN that we must "keep our eyes on the prize." In this fight against jail expansion, that's a slogan worth remembering.
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