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

Washington County, Missouri

According to the 2000 Census, Washington County, Missouri has a population of 23,344 people. Of those, 22,286 (95%) are White, 578 (2%) are Black, and 170 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 949 (or 4% of the 23,344 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 Washington County a population of 22,395 with a demographic that is 97% White, 1% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 23,344 949 22,395
White 22,286 484 21,802
Black 578 459 119
Latino 170 0 170


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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