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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Le Flore County, Oklahoma

According to the 2000 Census, Le Flore County, Oklahoma has a population of 48,109 people. Of those, 38,657 (80%) are White, 1,065 (2%) are Black, and 1,849 (4%) are Latino[1]. However, 761 (or 2% of the 48,109 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 Le Flore County a population of 47,348 with a demographic that is 81% White, 2% Black, and 4% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 48,109 761 47,348
White 38,657 462 38,195
Black 1,065 184 881
Latino 1,849 22 1,827


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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