JEREMY WILLIAMS

By Jeremy Williams

The New York City council held a meeting on Thursday where they made a step towards regulating waste transfer stations in neighborhoods across the city, after two people were killed by sanitation trucks in six months.

The City Council passed bill 0157-2018-C or the “Waste Equity Bill” which will divert trash from overburdened waste transfer stations which are usually located in low income or minority dense districts. Councilman Reynoso sponsored the bill, He believes addresses environmental racism which he referred to as an “insidious method, to which historically disadvantaged communities are made to suffer because of the color of their skin.”

Reynoso represents District 34, encompasing North Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens which has the highest concentration of waste transfer stations within the city.

Before the City Council passed this bill, 72 year-old Leon Clark was killed after being struck by a private sanitation truck in the Bronx, on April 27th. This bill targets dangerous sanitation trucks that recklessly speed through neighborhoods posing a risk to elderly residents. Councilman Reynoso asked the council, “How could a city that prides itself on progressive politics… possibly allow a system like this to exist.”

21-year-old Mouctar Diallo was also killed by a sanitation truck in the Bronx, on November 7th, 2017.

Councilwoman Adams, who represents the 28th District said, “The bill has admirable goals.” However she still struggled with it saying, “While this bill addresses capacity reformation… conspicuously absent are the persistent issues of air pollution, truck traffic, foul odors, and other matters that affect my quality of life and the quality of life of the people in Southeast Queens.” Adams, who did vote in favor of the bill, said that in the future she hopes for a more collaborative effort.

The councilmembers hope to approve a bill in the future that not only tackles increased truck traffic but attacks all of the negatives of waste transfer stations including poor air quality, which is especially harmful to people with asthma. Woodhull Hospital, which serves the 34th district has the highest rate of asthma related admissions across the entire city.

Expect a bill that will bring stronger regulations for waste transfer stations and private sanitation companies in the near future.

By Jeremy Williams

Do High Prison Phone Call Costs Make Phone Companies the Judge, Jury, and Executioner?

The 6th amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to a lawyer and a fair trial. However, many people who are sent to jail can’t afford to keep in contact with their legal counsel. This creates a system where the right to a fair trial is dependent on your finances. The protections promised under the Constitution are not be applicable to those who are not wealthy.

If a family cannot afford to pay for a phone call from jail, they most likely cannot afford to bail an incarcerated family member out. As a result many are forced to sit in jail until their trial. However, when the trial comes, the defendant and the lawyer aren’t properly prepared because they couldn’t afford to have necessary communication and planning. The chances of someone losing their trail are dramatically increased and now they are serving time for a crime they did not commit.

Public defenders are often criticized for having too many cases and not enough resources, but when you consider that the client can’t afford to talk to their lawyer, the idea of a fair trial becomes an unattainable dream.

Many inmates can’t turn to their families to advocate for them, because their family members can’t afford an increased phone bill or an extra expense.

A phone call from an inmate can run up to $17 for 15 minutes. That averages out to $1.13 a minute, and that’s if the inmate is being held close to their attorney and family. That isn’t the case for many families because most inmates are transferred out of their home area.

Does this mean all communication is stopped with your loved one because of they have been arrested?

Most people don’t have a choice in answering this question, because their financial situation has already predetermined this for them. This is especially the case if the breadwinner in the household is arrested and the financial burden is shifted to young adults or other family members who might not be capable of providing for an entire family. This forces working class families to choose between talking to a family member or keeping the lights on.

Last year, the Supreme Court repealed a regulation passed in 2015 that allowed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which regulates most methods of communication including phone calls, to cap the costs of phone calls from prison. Mignon Clyburn, the former commissioner for the FCC described the rising costs of these phone calls as a civil rights issue that is preventing 2.7 million children in America from communicating with an incarcerated parent. The costs of phone calls create an inequality between the wealthy and the poor. People arrested from both groups have a very different prison experience and the families that are affected, experience it differently as well.

The prison population stands at around 2.2 million people. The prison system is supposed to rehabilitate those 2.2 million people. Instead the government is using prisoners as pawns to profit off millions of hard working families who want to have contact with their loved ones.