NAACP LDF to hold Voting Rights and Redistricting Training Institute

Many experts on prison-based gerrymandering will be in attendance.

by Peter Wagner, September 16, 2010

The NAACP LDF will be holding the Voting Rights and Redistricting Training Institute at the Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, VA on October 8 and 9.

Jenigh Garrett of the NAACP LDF will talk about prison-based gerrymandering on the first panel “Race, Reform and Independent Redistricting Commissions.” The agenda features a number of the leading experts and commentators on prison-based gerrymandering, including Dale Ho, Brenda Wright, Nate Persily and Pamela Karlan. They will appear on various panels and speak about the role of the Voting Rights Act in redistricting, the importance of recognizing diversity in the context of redistricting, and strategies for safeguarding minority voting rights.

I’ll be in attendance and am looking forward to seeing you there!

Texas Lawmakers Urge a Change in How Inmates are Counted

Julian Aguilar has an excellent article in the Texas Tribune.

by Peter Wagner, September 9, 2010

Julian Aguilar has an excellent article in the Texas Tribune: Lawmakers Urge a Change in How Inmates are Counted.

VA Legislature urged to change prisoners’ role in districting

2001 law designed to help some counties end prison-based gerrymandering should be expanded to give all counties the same power.

by Peter Wagner, September 7, 2010

Frank Green has an excellent story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the impact of prison-based gerrymandering in county government in Virginia. After the 2000 Census, the legislature passed a law allowing counties with census populations that are more than 12% incarcerated to exclude the prison population when drawing districts. Unfortunately, this left a number of counties with large prison populations ineligible for the new law and required to draw districts that give the prison districts extra influence.

In Southampton County, for example, the residents who live near the prison have more than twice the influence over county affairs as residents of other districts. Ideally, the legislature will change the law and allow all counties to exclude the prison populations from the districts if they wish.

For more information, see Frank Green’s article, Legislature urged to change prisoners’ role in districting or our Virginia research page.

What Is Prison-Based Gerrymandering?

Jeff Reichert and I blog at Huffington Post about the making of the Gerrymandering film and put prison-based gerrymandering in context.

by Peter Wagner, September 7, 2010

Jeff Reichert, director of the documentary film Gerrymandering, and I have a blog post on the Huffington Post: What Is Prison-Based Gerrymandering?

We talk about the filming of the prison-based gerrymandering segment, and we put that segment in to the national context.

Escambia County, Alabama, avoids prison-based gerrymandering

Lisa Tindell cites our research in an article in Escambia County Alabama's Atmore Advance.

by Peter Wagner, August 31, 2010

Lisa Tindell cites our research in an article in Escambia County Alabama’s Atmore Advance: County omits prison count:

The 2010 U.S. Census will determine more than just how many people live in a given regional area. Those numbers are also used when counties across the state of Alabama determine where district lines are drawn for government representation.

Escambia County makes determinations on those district lines based on actual residential population, unlike other counties that may use prison population as part of district residents.

Escambia County Administrator Tony Sanks said the population of prisons in the county is excluded when district lines are determined.

“The district lines in the county were redrawn in 2001 following the last Census,” Sanks said. “The prison count was not included when a determination was made on the number of residents living in a particular area were considered.”

Sanks said the reason for that is simple — prisons aren’t served by the county.

“We don’t serve the prison systems in any way so they simply are not included as constituents in a district,” Sanks said. “They maintain their own roads and take care of their own services. Since we don’t serve them, we don’t count them as part of a district.”

In my view, the ideal solution is for the Census Bureau to count incarcerated people at their home, not prison, addresses. But Escambia County’s solution is a good interim step that avoids giving some districts extra representation just because they happen to contain a large prison.

Read the rest of the article.

Where should inmates be counted for redistricting?

The Texas House Research Organization has a lengthy article that cites a lot of our Texas research on prison-based gerrymandering.

by Peter Wagner, August 26, 2010

Tom Howe has has a lengthy article Where should inmates be counted for redistricting? in the Texas House Research Organizations’ Interim News.

The article cites a lot of our research, including:

• Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Texas, by Peter Wagner and Rose Heyer, November 8, 2004
• Not everything is bigger in Texas: How rural Texas counties with large prisons maintain fairness in democracy, by Elena Lavarreda, June 2, 2010

“An End to Prison Gerrymandering”

New York Times editorial cites our research and hails New York's new law ending prison-based gerrymandering.

by Peter Wagner, August 22, 2010

The New York Times cites our research on prison-based gerrymandering in the New York Senate, in upstate counties, and in Rome, New York in an editorial in Monday’s paper, An End to Prison Gerrymandering.

The editorial hails New York State’s new law to end prison-based gerrymandering and says it should be emulated around the country.

Jefferson, St. Lawrence counties to see benefits from new prison census rules in New York

Letter to the editor explains what Senator Griffo and others are ignoring.

by Peter Wagner, August 19, 2010

The Watertown Daily Times prints my letter to the editor where I explain that the state Legislature’s decision to count incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes has a big upside for St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties that nobody is talking about.

Rhode Island legislator boasts of prison-based gerrymandering

Ed Fitzpatrick finds that prison-based gerrymandering is not unique to Iowa. Another clear example is right in his home state.

by Peter Wagner, August 17, 2010

Providence Journal columnist Ed Fitzpatrick, who earlier reviewed Jeff Reichert’s new film Gerrymandering he published a new column this morning that focuses on the film’s segment on prison-based gerrymandering.

He said that my explanation of “the perfect district from the perspective of an elected official would be your house and a large prison, because as long as your spouse is willing to vote for you, you are guaranteed reelection” made him laugh, but he “wrote it off as an Iowa issue.” Then he started to think about the large Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston Rhode Island.

Anamosa is a great example of why prison-based gerrymandering is an unfair practice. But if viewers expect to see elected officials boast of deliberately using the prison populations to receive more representation than elsewhere, you won’t find it in Anamosa where democracy activists and the representative of the prison district worked together to change the form of government to eliminate the prison district. For shameless examples of using prison populations for self-advancement, the best example is in Rhode Island.

To find out who in Rhode Island inspired a search for a place like Anamosa, check out Ed Fitzpatrick’s column. You can also watch the segment of the film below. The film will be out in select theaters nationwide on October 15, and in more cities after that. Stay tuned!

A few upstate politicians misconstrue NY’s constitution, want to keep phantom constituents

Reactions from politicians who want to claim phantom constituents, despite constitutional definition of residence for incarcerated people.

by Peter Wagner, August 13, 2010

The Governor of New York signed the budget on Thursday, and with it the state’s new law to end prison-based gerrymandering.

Keith Goldberg of the Times Herald-Record (Orange County, NY), which earlier this week editorialized in support of the new law, has an interesting article about their state Senator’s reaction:

• Bonacic sees battle over change in prisoner count: Senator calls it power grab by Dems

And the Associated Press has an article appearing around the state that’s pretty good pointing out that the “last redistricting map included seven Senate districts that met required population criteria – within 10 percent of the largest district – only by counting prisoners,” although we wish it would have been more thorough at dealing with the constitutional issues. When Sen. Nozzolio “called the change ‘a direct assault’ on New York’s Constitution, he conveniently disregarded Article II, § 4, where it says that while incarcerated, a person remains a resident of their home.