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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James City County, Virginia

According to the 2000 Census, James City County, Virginia has a population of 48,102 people. Of those, 39,467 (82%) are White, 6,910 (14%) are Black, and 816 (2%) are Latino[1]. However, 460 (or 1% of the 48,102 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 James City County a population of 47,642 with a demographic that is 82% White, 14% Black, and 2% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 48,102 460 47,642
White 39,467 200 39,267
Black 6,910 248 6,662
Latino 816 11 805


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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