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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Pickaway County, Ohio

According to the 2000 Census, Pickaway County, Ohio has a population of 52,727 people. Of those, 48,482 (92%) are White, 3,391 (6%) are Black, and 333 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 5,791 (or 11% of the 52,727 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 Pickaway County a population of 46,936 with a demographic that is 97% White, 1% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 52,727 5,791 46,936
White 48,482 2,820 45,662
Black 3,391 2,907 484
Latino 333 34 299


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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