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.
Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Wisconsin
By John Hejduk and Peter Wagner
March 2008
- Press release
- Report
- Tables:
- Incarcerated populations in Wisconsin Assembly districts
- Incarcerated populations in Wisconsin Senate districts
- Percent of each Wisconsin county’s census population that is in a state or federal prison
- Incarceration rates for each Wisconsin county (2000)
- Incarcerated populations in Wisconsin county board districts (2000)
- Incarcerated populations in Wisconsin city Aldermanic wards (2000)
Coverage
- Lawmakers debate counting non-voting prisoners in census [RealMedia], by Shawn Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio July 7, 2009
-
Fuzzy Math: Is the Census Bureau creating unfair politics in Wisconsin?, by Evan Solochek, Milwaukee Magazine March 2008
Additional resources:
- The Wisconsin resource page is an actively maintained list of links to fact sheets, news articles, testimony, and other information on the current campaign for change in Wisconsin.
Recommended Reading:
About the Prison Policy Initiative
Learn more about the organization behind the Prison Gerrymandering Project.
The Racial Geography of Mass Incarceration
The transfer of Black and Latino incarcerated people to communities very different than their own is a nationwide problem.
Are legislative maps hurting prison reforms?
Pam Adams explains how in her downstate Illinois column.
Do prisons draw in Census money for their host communities? No.
We explain that prison gerrymandering is bad for democracy but federal & state aid are not impacted.