Metro Philadelphia: “Lawmakers and advocates on Wednesday urged Philadelphians to approve a new oversight mechanism that they believe will increase transparency and accountability within the city’s jails.

A question on the May 20 primary ballot will ask voters whether City Council should be allowed to move forward with establishing a Prison Community Oversight Board and accompanying municipal office.

‘It’s no secret that our prisons are in a crisis, and we’re looking to chart a new path forward,’ said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who helped pushed through legislation to get the issue on the ballot following a yearslong legislative process.

A federal court is monitoring the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, amid concerns over staffing, medical care, out-of-cell time and a myriad of other issues that were exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Last summer, a judge in the case ordered Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration to devote $25 million toward helping the department meet its obligations under a class-action settlement with inmates….

‘This board is going to be a contested space,’ said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center, an organization that has pushed for more oversight of the city jails.

‘There’s going to be people on this board from different experiences, different qualifications, and it’s going to be up to us community members to make sure that we have members on that board,’ he added. ‘Certainly, there’s going to be some pushback to what we want, and we’re going to push back to what other interests want.'”

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