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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Knox County, Maine

According to the 2000 Census, Knox County, Maine has a population of 39,618 people. Of those, 38,935 (98%) are White, 94 (0%) are Black, and 225 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 741 (or 2% of the 39,618 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 Knox County a population of 38,877 with a demographic that is 98% White, 0% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 39,618 741 38,877
White 38,935 692 38,243
Black 94 22 72
Latino 225 13 212


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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