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 Ginger Jackson-Gleich
- Incarcerated on Census Day: How even brief jail and prison stays can last a decade
Length-of-stay data from prisons and jails offers yet another reason why counting incarcerated people as correctional facility “residents” doesn’t make sense.
Jun 2, 2021 - California’s Redistricting Commission votes to adopt prison gerrymandering reform
Unanimous decision follows state legislature’s recommendation to count incarcerated people at home
Jan 12, 2021 - Since you asked: do opponents of prison gerrymandering want voter-only districting?
No. We oppose voter-only districting — even our recommendation that incarcerated people be excluded in some contexts lends no support to the practice of voter-only districting.
Dec 28, 2020 - Local governments in Louisiana dole out extra political power to people living near prisons and jails
Dramatic examples of prison gerrymandering show the need for new districting practices in the Bayou State.
Oct 9, 2020
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.
How to get elected without being a candidate first.
Iowa Public Radio explores how Anamosa Iowa ended prison gerrymandering.
