Help End Prison Gerrymandering
Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than two decades ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.
Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Articles by Alison Walsh
- Prison Policy Initiative dispels the myth that a prison cell is a “usual residence”
Our comment letter to the Census Bureau makes four key arguments for ending prison gerrymandering.
Sep 6, 2016 - 35 foundation leaders join the call for new residence rules for incarcerated people
35 foundation leaders urge the Census Bureau to count incarcerated people at home for a fair and accurate 2020 Census.
Sep 2, 2016 - LatinoJustice Urges Changes in How Census Bureau Counts Incarcerated People
Expressing concern for how communities of color are impacted by the Census Bureau's residence rules, LatinoJusticePRLDEF calls for a change in how incarcerated people are counted.
Aug 23, 2016 - “Over a dozen prisons in several different states”: Letter to Census Bureau describes temporary nature of incarceration
A new letter to the Census Bureau explains why a prison cell does not equal a residence.
Aug 5, 2016 - The Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement objects to being counted in the wrong jurisdictions
Members of the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement have firsthand experience with prison gerrymandering, and they call for an end to the practice.
Jul 27, 2016 - Professor of Law finds a serious problem with the Census Bureau’s approach to counting the incarcerated
The Census cannot provide "the best data for redistricting" if it continues to count incarcerated people in the wrong place.
Jul 26, 2016 - North Carolina resident observes two flawed ways of counting prison populations, urges Census Bureau to use pre-incarceration addresses
A North Carolina resident calls on the Census Bureau to correct the problem of prison gerrymandering rather than shift the burden to the state.
Jul 25, 2016 - Southern Center for Human Rights advises the Census Bureau “to acknowledge the transient nature of mass incarceration”
Incarcerated people in Georgia are unlikely to remain at any one facility for long.
Jul 22, 2016 - Prison boom and redistricting revolution call for new approach to data collection
At the last Census, the Bureau counted over 2 million incarcerated people in the wrong place.
Jul 21, 2016 - New York Times editorial: proposed residence rules “a rejection of common sense”
The New York Times editorial board summarizes the problem of prison gerrymandering and explains why the Census Bureau must take action.
Jul 18, 2016
Recommended Reading:
About the Prison Policy Initiative
Learn more about the organization behind the Prison Gerrymandering Project.
The Racial Geography of Mass Incarceration
The transfer of Black and Latino incarcerated people to communities very different than their own is a nationwide problem.
Do prisons draw in Census money for their host communities? No.
We explain that prison gerrymandering is bad for democracy but federal & state aid are not impacted.
Prison-based Gerrymandering in Anamosa, Iowa
How a prison helped one man get elected with just two votes.