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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—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Jefferson County, Alabama

According to the 2000 Census, Jefferson County, Alabama has a population of 662,047 people. Of those, 384,639 (58%) are White, 260,608 (39%) are Black, and 10,284 (2%) are Latino[1]. However, 3,403 (or 1% of the 662,047 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 Jefferson County a population of 658,644 with a demographic that is 58% White, 39% Black, and 2% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 662,047 3,403 658,644
White 384,639 866 383,773
Black 260,608 2,481 258,127
Latino 10,284 26 10,258


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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