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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Putnam County, Florida

According to the 2000 Census, Putnam County, Florida has a population of 70,423 people. Of those, 54,868 (78%) are White, 12,003 (17%) are Black, and 4,168 (6%) are Latino[1]. However, 618 (or 1% of the 70,423 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 Putnam County a population of 69,805 with a demographic that is 78% White, 17% Black, and 6% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 70,423 618 69,805
White 54,868 282 54,586
Black 12,003 329 11,674
Latino 4,168 16 4,152


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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