Glenn Martin says New York should demand Census reform

It's time New York demanded the census do what it was intended to do: Count the populations of its real communities, not tamper with its political scales.

by Peter Wagner, February 9, 2010

Glenn Martin has a great letter to the editor in last week’s Albany Times Union (February 5, 2010):

Don’t Politicize The Census

While sparsely populated upstate needs all the legislative representation it can muster, this representation must not come at the expense of destitute urban communities whose problems already stem from a disproportionate lack of resources and advocacy.

Census guidelines allow upstate prison communities to count nonvoting inmates as residents in order to increase legislative representation, while the prisoners’ underserved hometown communities lose out (“Inmate census rule criticized,” Jan. 29).

State parole laws dictate that upon release, prisoners must return to the county of their conviction — which is usually the county of their last known address. By this logic, inmates should be counted as residents of that county throughout incarceration, even if their prison is located upstate.

Reform is about political power and fairness, does not affect funding

Rebutting misinformation, I explain in a letter to the editor that revising the Census and drawing fair districts would not affect a prison town's funding.

by Peter Wagner, February 7, 2010

A state-wide campaign is underway to end prison-based gerrymandering in New York State. Unfortunately, a misinformation campaign threatens those efforts. Today, the Elmira Star-Gazette in upstate New York printed
my letter to the editor:

Mayor Tonello is concerned that a bill to change how prisoners are counted for redistricting purposes would hurt Elmira’s budget. [" Officials: Changing how census counts inmates would hurt region", February 1] This concern is misplaced.

Census engaged in ‘prison-based gerrymandering,’ report says

"Did you know that your vote counts more if you live near a prison? That's what the census says." Andrew Paley reports on our Illinois research in Medill Reports.

by Peter Wagner, February 6, 2010

Andrew Paley has a great story about our prison-based gerrymandering in Illinois report in Medill Reports::

Census engaged in ‘prison-based gerrymandering,’ report says.
BY ANDREW PALEY
Did you know that your vote counts more if you live near a prison? That’s what the census says.

Somerset County says no to prison-based gerrymandering

by Peter Wagner, February 4, 2010

A vote in Somerset County Maryland means that ending prison-based gerrymandering is getting closer.

An NAACP- and ACLU-led group of county leaders and community members, called the Somerset County Task Force on Diversity, has called for the county to explore the possibility of disregarding the population at the state prison when the county next updates its county legislative lines after the 2010 Census. In a 4-1 vote, the County Commission endorsed the Task Force’s recommendations.

Hearings held in Oregon and Wisconsin today

Hearings were held in the Oregon Senate and Wisconsin Assembly on proposals to adjust the census to eliminate prison-based gerrymandering today.

by Peter Wagner, February 2, 2010

This afternoon, the Wisconsin Assembly held a hearing on AJR63 [PDF], the Census Adjustment Amendment, today. The video and audio of the Assembly Committee on Elections and Campaign Reform hearing is available online courtesy of Wisconsin Eye (start at 57:37 in). The amendment would prohibit the state and local governments from using prison populations to pad legislative districts.

Report on prison-based gerrymandering in Illinois released

A new report on prison-based gerrymandering in Illinois examines how the Census Bureau's prison miscount harms democracy in the state and county government.

February 2, 2010

Census Bureau counts Illinois prisoners in wrong place; access to democracy distorted

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — The 2010 Census is rapidly approaching, but an old error threatens the count, charges a new report by the non-profit Prison Policy Initiative. The report, Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Illinois, explains that the U.S. Census counts people incarcerated in state and federal prisons as residents of the prison location, and that creates big problems for democracy at both the state and local level. “Crediting Chicago’s population to downstate prisons changes the balance of power in Illinois and within rural counties,” said Executive Director and report co-author Peter Wagner.

Wisconsin organizing materials added

Added a page of organizing materials to support eliminating prison-based gerrymandering in Wisconsin.

by Peter Wagner, February 1, 2010

We’ve added a page of materials for people organizing against prison-based gerrymandering in Wisconsin. Included is information about the reform efforts, background materials and 16 fact sheets.

New York Campaign Kickoff Press Coverage

The Campaign to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering in New York got a big start with a press conference and meeting in New York City today. See the press coverage and videos.

by Peter Wagner, January 28, 2010

The Campaign to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering in New York got a big start with a press conference and meeting in New York City today. Please add other news stories and videos to the comments and I’ll edit this post. These are the first 5 items:

• Inmate census rule criticized Bill proposes counting prisoners in their home communities instead of where they’re jailed, by Bryan Fitzgerald, Albany Times-Union, january 29, 2010
• Inmates’ Stock Is Rising in Albany District Fight by Jeremy W. Peters, New York TImes January 28, 2010
• Where should Census count inmates?, by Cristian Salazar, Associated Press, January 28, 2010
• Democrats seek to remove prison population from Census, by Joseph Spector, Star Gazette, January 28, 2010

Model legislation page

We've updated our legislation page and added model legislation for both the interim and residence restoration strategies.

by Peter Wagner, January 28, 2010

We recently updated our list of legislative efforts to end prison-based gerrymandering, and drafted two different types of model legislation. One model creates a system for restoring the state’s incarcerated population to its correct location, and the second is an interim strategy to prevent districts with prisons from using the prison population to enhance their influence beyond their numbers.

Statewide Coalition Kicks Off Campaign to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering

by Demos, January 27, 2010

Senator Eric T. Schneiderman Will Introduce Bill to Change How New York Uses Census Prisoner Counts

New York, NY–Community groups and advocates from across New York will rally on the steps of City Hall Thursday in support of new legislation to end the undemocratic system of prison-based gerrymandering. Supporters will be joined by Senator Schneiderman to seek an amendment to the State Election Law regarding how incarcerated individuals are counted for the purposes of legislative districting.

This is a critical step in a major statewide effort to pass legislation that will count prisoners as residents of their home counties, rather than as residents of the counties in which they are incarcerated. The current system for counting people in prison drastically inflates populations in some communities, while diluting the political representation of the home communities and violating the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.”

Restoring the democratic right of representation to all New York communities is especially urgent now that the 2010 Census is underway and new legislative districts will be drawn in 2012.

WHO: Community groups and advocates, Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Elected Officials; Steven Carbo from leading coalition member Demos, a national policy center, will moderate.

WHEN: Thursday, January 28, 2010 – 10:00am

WHERE: New York City Hall – Steps