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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Jasper County, Iowa

According to the 2000 Census, Jasper County, Iowa has a population of 37,213 people. Of those, 36,313 (98%) are White, 309 (1%) are Black, and 375 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 1,018 (or 3% of the 37,213 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 Jasper County a population of 36,195 with a demographic that is 98% White, 0% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 37,213 1,018 36,195
White 36,313 773 35,540
Black 309 200 109
Latino 375 32 343


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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