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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Hughes County, South Dakota

According to the 2000 Census, Hughes County, South Dakota has a population of 16,481 people. Of those, 14,654 (89%) are White, 31 (0%) are Black, and 201 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 187 (or 1% of the 16,481 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 Hughes County a population of 16,294 with a demographic that is 89% White, 0% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 16,481 187 16,294
White 14,654 114 14,540
Black 31 5 26
Latino 201 6 195


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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