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.

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Coosa County, Alabama

According to the 2000 Census, Coosa County, Alabama has a population of 12,202 people. Of those, 7,802 (64%) are White, 4,172 (34%) are Black, and 158 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 343 (or 3% of the 12,202 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Coosa County a population of 11,859 with a demographic that is 65% White, 33% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 12,202 343 11,859
White 7,802 114 7,688
Black 4,172 228 3,944
Latino 158 1 157


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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