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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Bon Homme County, South Dakota

According to the 2000 Census, Bon Homme County, South Dakota has a population of 7,260 people. Of those, 6,934 (96%) are White, 45 (1%) are Black, and 42 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 771 (or 11% of the 7,260 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 Bon Homme County a population of 6,489 with a demographic that is 97% White, 0% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 7,260 771 6,489
White 6,934 621 6,313
Black 45 21 24
Latino 42 2 40


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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