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
Ohio
- Sections
- Fact sheets
- More information
The U.S. Census Bureau counts incarcerated people where they are confined not where they are from. Using these counts to draw state and local legislative districts enhances the political clout of people who live near prisons at the expense of everyone else in the state or city.
Fact sheets
Prison Gerrymandering in Ohio, November 25, 2013
More Information
- Legislation: including model legislation, current bills, and archive of past legislative efforts
- Pathfinder: a guide to resources on prison gerrymandering
- The Redistricting Data Hub's report estimating the effect of prison gerrymandering in Ohio in the 2020 redistricting cycle.
- Another Decade of Prison Gerrymandering in Ohio, October 3, 2013
- Fixing prison-based gerrymandering after the 2010 Census: Ohio, March 2010
- Report: Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Ohio
by Peter Wagner and Rose Heyer, July 6, 2004
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.
Are legislative maps hurting prison reforms?
Pam Adams explains how in her downstate Illinois column.
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.