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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Habersham County, Georgia

According to the 2000 Census, Habersham County, Georgia has a population of 35,902 people. Of those, 31,910 (89%) are White, 1,610 (4%) are Black, and 2,750 (8%) are Latino[1]. However, 1,249 (or 3% of the 35,902 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 Habersham County a population of 34,653 with a demographic that is 91% White, 2% Black, and 8% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 35,902 1,249 34,653
White 31,910 376 31,534
Black 1,610 829 781
Latino 2,750 39 2,711


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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