From prison to the Assembly

Plenty of people have gone from the Legislature to the big house, but this is the first time it’s happened in the other direction. Eddie Gibbs, sworn in Thursday after winning an Assembly special election, was incarcerated for four years after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 1988.

There are lessons to be learned in that long journey from the state pen to the Capitol.

The first is that education matters. Gibbs, who grew up poor with five siblings and a single mother, earned an associate’s degree in business while incarcerated; it helped him rebuild his life upon release. More of the 31,000-plus men and women locked up in state prisons deserve that chance, which is why Gov. Hochul is right to restore the state’s Tuition Assistance Program to those behind bars. It’s one of many worthy proposals designed to focus the Corrections Department more on actual corrections and less on simply warehousing souls for years at a time.

The second is that legislative special elections remain no-contest contests. Gibbs was tapped by the Democratic Party without a primary, guaranteeing his landslide victory in the East Harlem district. Far better to have given the people a choice either with an open primary or a non-party, all-comers election like is done for City Council special elections.

The third is that expertise is crucial. Gibbs, having spent 17 months on Rikers Island and the balance of his time at Elmira and Cayuga and Mid-State correctional facilities, arrives in Albany with deep knowledge of the state’s jails and prisons — and what some might consider a surprising perspective on at least one criminal justice issue.

“I’m still studying the effects of bail reform,” Gibbs said last month. “In the community where we’re from, we see a lot. There’s no fear of going to jail anymore.”