Intentional prison-based gerrymandering found in Wyoming

One Wyoming district is moved 17 miles to include a prison; padding one district with a large prison protects two incumbents from facing each other.

by Peter Wagner, March 4, 2012

Joan Barron writes in today’s Casper Star-Tribune about the most blatant case of prison-based gerrymandering I have ever seen: a Wyoming Senate district that snakes around an incumbents house and then follows the Nebraska border for 17 miles to snag a prison. The initial proposed districts had the two incumbents facing each for re-election, but using the prison to pad one district shifted the other incumbent into a separate district.

Graphic by Bob Machuga

I typically write about the problem of prison-based gerrymandering in terms of vote dilution. The shape of the prison district is problematic, but is separate from that issue.

In our analysis, we found several new Wyoming legislative districts that meet federal minimum population requirements only by using prison populations as padding. The prison population can’t vote, and by state law they retain their pre-incarceration residences. Counting incarcerated people in the wrong location gives extra political influence to the districts with prisons, and dilutes the votes of residents who live in any other district.

The truly unique part about prison-based gerrymandering in Wyoming is how blatant it is. In order to increase his chances for re-election, Senator Meier insisted that his house be shifted to another district. The captive population at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution made the perfect inert ballast to shore up the district his house previously was in.

Besides prison finger’s funny shape, the legislature’s other major redistricting controversy was about which counties were split. Keeping communities together makes a lot of sense, and that principle applies to prison populations too. That’s why four states have passed laws to count incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes. It doesn’t make sense to use prison populations to pad out any one district when their real residences are in other parts of the state.

Most state and local governments are moving towards ending prison-based gerrymandering. Wyoming’s new maps buck that trend and deliberately go the other way. Wyoming will get some ridicule for the funny finger shaped district; but the real losers are every resident of the state who does not live next to a large prison.

Virginia bill against prison-based gerrymandering passed Senate, on to Governor for signature

Virginia bill allowing more counties to avoid prison-based gerrymandering passes Senate unanimously, goes on to Governor for signature.

by Peter Wagner, February 24, 2012

The morning, the Virginia Senate unanimously passed HB 13, which would allow more counties to avoid prison-based gerrymandering. I submitted testimony in support of the bill this on Tuesday.

HB13 fixes a quirk in Virginia law that requires counties with large prisons to engage in prison-based gerrymandering. These counties must use Census Bureau prison counts to draw county supervisory districts, thereby granting undue influence to the districts that have prisons and diluting the votes of residents in all other supervisory districts in the county. Prior to 2001, all Virginia counties were required to engage in prison-based gerrymandering; but that year Virginia amended the law, giving some counties — if their total incarcerated population was at least 12% of the total county population — the option to exclude prison populations for redistricting purposes. Counties with slightly smaller prison populations were still required to use the prison populations to dilute the votes of other county residents.

HB 13 would give any county with a single district that’s 12% or more incarcerated the opportunity to avoid prison-based gerrymandering.

The bill, which earlier this month unanimously passed the House, now goes on to the Governor for signature. In an editorial last month, the Roanoke Times editorial board declared that HB 13 “would move the commonwealth in the right direction” towards ending prison-based gerrymandering.

Virginia bill against prison-based gerrymandering passes Senate committee

Virginia bill allowing more counties to avoid prison-based gerrymandering passes Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections.

by Peter Wagner, February 21, 2012

This afternoon, the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee unanimously passed HB 13, which would allow more counties to avoid prison-based gerrymandering. I submitted testimony in support of the bill this morning.

HB13 fixes a quirk in Virginia law that requires counties with large prisons to engage in prison-based gerrymandering. These counties must use Census Bureau prison counts to draw county supervisory districts, thereby granting undue influence to the districts that have prisons and diluting the votes of residents in all other supervisory districts in the county. Prior to 2001, all Virginia counties were required to engage in prison-based gerrymandering; but that year Virginia amended the law, giving some counties — if their total incarcerated population was at least 12% of the total county population — the option to exclude prison populations for redistricting purposes. Counties with slightly smaller prison populations were still required to use the prison populations to dilute the votes of other county residents.

HB 13 would give any county with a single district that’s 12% or more incarcerated the opportunity to avoid prison-based gerrymandering.

In an editorial last month, the Roanoke Times editorial board declared that HB 13 “would move the commonwealth in the right direction” towards ending prison-based gerrymandering. Clearing the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee brings the bill, and the Commonwealth, one step closer to that goal.

New Common Cause Oregon report calls for end to prison-based gerrymandering

Ending prison-based gerrymandering in Oregon would bring the state's redistricting process in line with both the state constitution and with the federal principle of "one person, one vote."

by Leah Sakala, February 16, 2012

A new report released by Common Cause Oregon recommends ending prison-based gerrymandering as a critical step for improving Oregon‘s redistricting process. Ending prison-based gerrymandering in Oregon would bring the state’s redistricting process in line with both the state constitution and with the federal principle of “one person, one vote.”

The report shows that prison-based gerrymandering is especially problematic for the City of Pendleton:

The City of Pendleton in Umatilla County provides an Oregon example of the negative effect on democracy of claiming incarcerated people as constituents of the prison location. The Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution is 28 percent of a Pendleton city council district, giving every 3 residents of the ward with the prison the political power of 4 residents in other parts of the city. Department of Corrections statistics show that virtually everyone incarcerated at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution comes from other parts of the state.

The solution is clear:

Common Cause Oregon recommends legislative action to end prison gerrymandering in 2021 by excluding prisoners in redistricting unless the Census Bureau changes its policy of counting prisoners where they are confined in its 2020 count.

Local governments find unexpected burdens in Census Bureau’s prison miscounts

Incarcerated people are not part of the communities in which they are confined, and data that assumes otherwise can have unforeseen negative effects.

by Leah Sakala, February 16, 2012

We generally focus on how the Census Bureau’s practice of counting incarcerated people as residents of the prison, rather than of their home addresses, causes problems for electoral redistricting. But while prison-based gerrymandering may be the biggest problem caused by the Census Bureau’s prison miscount, it certainly isn’t the only one.

More and more examples keep popping up across the country, all with a common thread: incarcerated people are not part of the communities in which they are confined, and relying on data that assumes otherwise creates unforeseen problems.

A common response is to chase the symptom and change a state law or municipal code every time a community with a prison is faced with an absurd result. In my view, the ideal solution is for the Census Bureau to respond to shifting social data needs by counting incarcerated people at home. In the meantime, though, I thought it might be useful to gather together in one place some of the examples I’ve found of non-redistricting problems with the Census Bureau’s prison count:

1. Raising costs for building inspector administration and public safety assessments:
   In 2010 the Maine State Prison was relocated to the town of Warren, Maine, raising the town’s official 2010 Census Bureau population by more than 900 people and pushing it over the 4,000 mark that mandates the enforcement of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code and increases the town’s dispatch fees. As the Warren Code Enforcer Bill O’Donnell pointed out, “Counting inmates in the town’s population is a grave mistake and poses undue hardship for the residents of our community.” In response, state Representative Wes Richardson introduced legislation to exclude the incarcerated population from the town’s official count. The bill, LD 1697, passed the Legislature’s Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee unanimously on February 9.
2. Creating expensive voting precincts for people who are not permitted to vote:
   Massachusetts state law prohibits any single voting precinct in the state from exceeding a maximum size. While this good way to ensure that all citizens can access the polls on election day, towns with large prisons suddenly found themselves in a difficult position when figuring out how many precincts to draw because their official populations are inflated by incarcerated populations that are prohibited from voting. In order to avoid having to create, staff, and pay for a voting precinct for people who can’t vote, four towns with large prisons (Harvard, Lancaster, Middleton, and Shirley) have each needed special legislation to exempt themselves from the requirement.
3. Being forced to adopt expensive recycling systems without having sufficient recycleables:
   The 3,717 residents of Kelly, Pennsylvania ran into a quandary when the 2010 Census included a large Federal prison in the township’s official population count, reporting 5,500 people in Kelly. This suddenly made the township responsible for enforcing a 1988 Pennsylvania statute that mandates curbside recycling for areas with large or dense populations. Not only would the unnecessary curbside program be costly for Kelly, but the township wouldn’t even be allowed to take over the prison’s federally-run recycling system if it wanted to.

Continue reading →

NY Court of Appeals declines to hear direct appeal in suit against law ending prison-based gerrymandering

The New York Court of Appeals today declined to hear plaintiffs' direct appeal in Little v. LATFOR.

February 14, 2012

For Immediate Release: February 14, 2012

The New York Court of Appeals today declined to hear plaintiffs’ direct appeal in Little v. LATFOR, a lawsuit challenging New York’s law ending prison-based gerrymandering. The plaintiffs — who include upstate elected officials who would no longer unjustly benefit from claiming incarcerated people as residents of their districts — had sought to skip the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division and go directly to the Court of Appeals.

In December, New York Supreme Court Justice Eugene Devine ruled that the law was constitutional. Plaintiffs’ appeal will now proceed to the Appellate Division Third Department.

Attorneys for the 15 voters from around New York State who joined the suit as intervenor-defendants issued the following joint statement:

“Today’s decision leaves in place New York’s law ending prison-based gerrymandering, which advances fairness in redistricting and is in complete agreement with New York’s state constitution. The opponents of this law lost the policy debate in the legislature, and their efforts to reinstate the old unjust practice of prison-based gerrymandering have so far been unsuccessful in the courts. We look forward to defending this vital law at the appellate division.”

The organizations representing the fifteen voters in court were the Brennan Center for Justice, the Center for Law & Social Justice, Dēmos, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Prison Policy Initiative.

About Prison-Based Gerrymandering

There are dramatic examples of prison-based gerrymandering in upstate counties and cities. For example, half of a council ward in the city of Rome, New York is incarcerated. As a result, the actual residents of that ward wield twice the influence of other city residents. Recognizing the distortions caused by prison-based gerrymandering at the local level, 13 New York counties with large prisons – including four in plaintiff Senator Little’s district – have historically exercised their discretion to remove the prison populations prior to redistricting.

Will Doolittle: Change in inmate counting is only a start

Will Doolittle’s new column in the Glens Falls Post-Star asks what prison-based gerrymandering can reveal about broader inequalities in the criminal justice system.

by Leah Sakala, February 3, 2012

Because discussions about prison-based gerrymandering are sometimes very technical and numbers-based, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger criminal justice policy picture. Will Doolittle’s new column in the Glens Falls Post-Star zooms way out to ask what prison-based gerrymandering can reveal about broader inequalities in the criminal justice system.

Ending prison-based gerrymandering in New York was a smart move, he says, but there’s more work to do to address disporportionate incarceration rates and rural prison industries:

Far too many of our young urban men in New York spend often-brief sojourns in rural prisons that stigmatize them for the rest of their lives, exposing them to legal discrimination and relegating them to a lower class existence.

Laws may be colorblind, but the criminal justice system is not, unfortunately. White and black people use illegal drugs at about the same rates, for example, but a much higher percentage of black people than white are arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for drug crimes. Most of these people are young men, and once convicted, their road to a constructive, satisfying life is particularly steep.

In prison, they are numbers, little more. So many inmates per prison, so many inmates per correction officer, so many inmates per upstate job.

New York should be praised for ending prison-based gerrymandering, but other reforms to improve the criminal justice system must follow:

Prisoners bear responsibility for their actions and the only way for an individual to transcend his incarceration is to first take responsibility for where he has ended up.

But step back and consider all the black and brown young men passing through our state prisons on their way to lives of severely curtailed opportunities. It’s wrong on its face.

They’re being counted where they should be now, but they still don’t count as much as they should.

Virginia bill against prison-based gerrymandering passes House unanimously

HB 13, which would allow more counties to reject prison-based gerrymandering, passed unanimously in the Virginia House and now advances to the Senate.

by Leah Sakala, February 2, 2012

Yesterday HB 13, which would allow more counties to reject prison-based gerrymandering, passed unanimously in the Virginia House. The bill, sponsored by Del. Riley Ingram, will now advance to the Senate.

Current Virgina law allows a county to exclude prison populations for redistricting purposes only if the prison population makes up 12% or more of the county’s total population. HB 13 would allow any county with a single district that’s 12% or more incarcerated to exclude prison populations for redistricting purposes, more than doubling the number of counties eligible to avoid prison-based gerrymandering.

As the Roanoke Times so succinctly put it, HB 13 “would move the commonwealth in the right direction” towards ending prison-based gerrymandering.

Prison law about fairness, not partisanship

The Daily News recently published a letter to the editor by Peter Wagner explaining that the law ending prison-based gerrymandering in New York is about democratic fairness rather than petty partisanship.

by Leah Sakala, January 27, 2012

In reviewing recent coverage of New York’s implementation of the 2010 law that ended prison-based gerrymandering, I was struck by how often partisan interests misrepresent a law that protects the fundamental Constitutional mandate of “one person, one vote.”

The Daily News recently published a letter to the editor by PPI’s Executive Director Peter Wagner that clarifies that the New York law is about fundamental democratic fairness, not petty partisanship. Upstate counties, it turns out, took the lead in rejecting prison-based gerrymandering because of the way it was distorting their districts.

As Peter explains:

Prison law about fairness, not partisanship

The law ending prison-based gerrymandering was far from a partisan power grab. (“Area lawmakers say prison population changes are ‘political power grab,’” story, Jan. 13) The law put the state’s redistricting practices in line with the state constitutional definition of residence and with the redistricting practices of most upstate counties.

The state Constitution says that: “no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence, by reason of his or her presence or absence … while confined in any public prison.” The law corrects the U.S. Census data to comply with the state constitution.

The new law applies to both state and county redistricting, and the law was inspired in part by the 13 upstate counties (including Wyoming) that have traditionally refused to use prison populations when drawing county districts or setting weighted votes in the Boards of Supervisors.

According to my research, the biggest winners under the new law are the residents of neighboring Livingston County. There, more than half of the weighted votes attributed to the town of Groveland — and exercised by the county’s boards chairman — are from claiming prisoners as constituents. It is blatantly unfair for some people to have more political influence just because they live next to a large prison.

Wyoming County got it right years ago, and the new state law requires everyone to use the same fair approach.

Peter Wagner
Easthampton, Mass.

The writer is executive director of the Prison Policy Initiative and author of “Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout.”

Missouri Municipal Review: Prison Populations Create Complications at Redistricting Time

The January, 2012 issue of the Missouri Municipal Review includes my article on how prisons create problems for Missouri cities at redistricting time.

by Peter Wagner, January 27, 2012

The January, 2012 issue of the Missouri Municipal Review includes my new article on how the Census Bureau’s prison miscount creates problems for Missouri cities at redistricting time. Since the Census Bureau counts incarcerated people as they they were residents of the cities in which they are confined, city officials who are redrawing city council lines must decide whether the people who live next to the prison should be given more influence over city affairs than other residents.

The article grew out of our work in the City of Pacific, where the city proposed drawing a city council district where almost half of the population was incarcerated, thereby diluting the votes of residents in all other districts.

The article explains that both federal law and Missouri state law permit municipalities to adjust their redistricting data to avoid prison-based gerrymandering, and at least two Missouri cities have successfully done so this redistricting season.

The article includes a section on Missouri state law, but it also includes a good national introduction to the topic, with sections on federal law and a detailed discussion of the factual and legal precedent for avoiding prison-based gerrymandering across the country. In the article, I explain that removing prison populations from redistricting data is a common (and common sense) approach used by more than 100 local governments across the country. The article ends with a discussion of best practices for avoiding prison-based gerrymandering.

The article came out too late for some cities that have completed their redistricting — Fulton has a district that is 47% incarcerated, Chillicothe has a district that is 39% incarcerated, and St. Joseph has a district that is 13% incarcerated — but the article will hopefully help other cities as they update their districts.