House Bill 1011, entitled the Democracy in Education Act 2011, would have empowered city voters to decide the issue of a partially elected school board at the November 2011 election.

The Baltimore City House Delegation, during its weekly Annapolis meeting this past Friday, March 25, 2011, considered the bill and voted on whether or not to give it their support. Though 10 of the 18 city delegates sponsored the measure, the bill was voted unfavorable by a vote of 7 to 5 essentially sealing its fate for the year.

Here is video from the hearing and vote:

Not long ago, I shared an open letter that I sent to Delegate Keith Haynes in reference to a quote that he provided to the Baltimore Sun. In the Sun article, Haynes described the $100 million dollar expansion of prisons in East Baltimore as a “good investment.” I quickly wrote him and cc’d a handful of folks on the letter and a few days later we had the opportunity to talk.

He told me that there are two pots of money in the Maryland budgetary system – an operating budget and a capital budget. The operating budget, said Haynes, is the budget that is strained by a structural deficit. That’s the budget, he said, that is currently being shaved away more and more every year. The money for prisons is from the capital budget and the decision to construct new prisons in East Baltimore was made some time ago.

He agreed with me that investing in schools, mentoring programs, and other intervention strategies was more amenable than building more cells and locking people up. He also said that his quote for the Sun article was mischaracterized and so he appreciated an opportunity to speak to me directly about it. We ended the conversation by agreeing to work together and locate resources that would do more to help and lift people than punish and imprison them.

I’ll definitely keep this in mind as we head toward another General Assembly in January where the Legislature seems to be poised to expand its own version of the RICO laws. According to The Sun, members of the House of Delegates met to re-examine Maryland’s Anti-Gang statute. State prosecutors would like to strengthen state “anti-gang” measures by having judges add prison time if a person convicted of certain crimes was a part of a gang at the time of the crime. (How are they going to prove that?)

Here again – another display of energy and effort focused on how we can further criminalize people instead of heeding the findings of Think Tanks like Justice Policy Institute which suggests in a 2007 report that more energy needs to be directed toward promoting jobs, education, healthy communities, and lowering the barriers of reintegration into society for former gang members.

I look forward to redoubling my efforts to work with Delegate Keith Haynes and other elected officials, like longstanding justice advocate Delegate Jill Carter, in steering state resources toward community-building, cost effective public safety strategies.

Good Morning Delegate Haynes,

I pray this email finds you and your family well. I’m writing because I just finished reading an article in today’s Baltimore Sun by Julie Bykowicz entitled, “Maryland Detention Center Plans Move Forward” which details how the state is prepared to spend $100 million dollars to build two new prisons – one for youth and the other for women in East Baltimore.

To be honest, I am disturbed by this news because the perception is that money is readily available to build prisons or to support repressive enforcement measures in Maryland’s African American communities; but it always seems that we beg for resources that would support our public schools and direct investment to our neighborhoods. In a state where the Governor is proposing cuts to the budget for the second year in a row; I am beyond befuddled that $100 million is found to build more prisons in Black neighborhoods anticipating an escalation in the incarceration of youth who will be charged as adults and women.

You are quoted in this article as calling this plan a “good investment.” As one of the 6 African Americans on the House Appropriations Committee; I would like to believe that you would have a better grasp of what a “good investment” is in the big picture of the health of our community.

However, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt because I am well aware of how mainstream media sometimes misquotes and/or publishes statements out of context in order to support their pretext. Instead of relying on The Sun; I’d rather hear your position straight from you.

Can you please share your views related to this project and its impact on our community.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Rev. Heber Brown, III