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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Jefferson County, New York

According to the 2000 Census, Jefferson County, New York has a population of 111,738 people. Of those, 99,118 (89%) are White, 6,517 (6%) are Black, and 4,677 (4%) are Latino[1]. However, 2,288 (or 2% of the 111,738 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 Jefferson County a population of 109,450 with a demographic that is 90% White, 5% Black, and 4% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 111,738 2,288 109,450
White 99,118 662 98,456
Black 6,517 1,239 5,278
Latino 4,677 724 3,953


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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