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
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Importing Constituents:
Prisoners and Political Clout in Wisconsin

By John Hejduk and Peter Wagner
Prison Policy Initiative
March 2008
Section:

Appendix B. Incarcerated populations in Wisconsin Senate districts.
DistrictSenator (2008)PartyPrisoners (state and federal)Black prisonersLatino PrisonersDistrict populationPopulation deviationPercent of district that is incarceratedPercent deviation without prisonersWhite populationBlack populationLatino populationPercent Black poplation incarceratedPercent Latino population incarcerated
1Alan LaseeR120464162,285-2510.1%-0.2%157,1715391,7148.5%0.2%
2Robert CowlesR1,93666046162,546101.2%-1.2%151,4241,3062,00450.5%2.3%
3Tim CarpenterD000162,454-820%-0.1%95,4026,42451,7150%0%
4Lena TaylorD000162,528-80%0%52,60297,4805,8510%0%
5Jim SullivanD49383162,347-1890%-0.1%148,6193,8674,9531.0%0.1%
6Spencer CoggsD83603162,6891530.1%0%38,437107,4297,1140.1%0%
7Jeffrey PlaleD49392162,7912550%0.1%142,4994,2729,5240.9%0%
8Alberta DarlingR000162,076-4600%-0.3%140,90213,2772,8290%0%
9Joe LeibhamR1,24063799161,775-7610.8%-1.2%148,6891,5844,74240.2%2.1%
10Sheila HarsdorfR103425162,9944580.1%0.2%157,5746841,3716.1%0.4%
11Neal KedzieR000162,286-2500%-0.2%151,9281,1806,9380%0%
12Roger BreskeD124475162,618820.1%0%150,3576261,4027.5%0.4%
13Scott FitzgeraldR1,587724100163,2627261.0%-0.5%155,3901,2724,64356.9%2.2%
14Luther OlsenR2,052834319162,414-1221.3%-1.3%155,6771,3493,06161.8%10.4%
15Judy RobsonD000162,267-2690%-0.2%144,4107,9686,8340%0%
16Mark MillerD000162,468-680%0%152,4093,5723,3330%0%
17Dale SchultzR16710412162,7622260.1%0%158,7096261,55616.6%0.8%
18Carol RoesslerR6,1102,524262162,388-1483.8%-3.9%151,0053,7693,10767.0%8.4%
19Michael EllisR000161,992-5440%-0.3%150,9371,3134,0050%0%
20Glenn GrothmanR000162,035-5010%-0.3%157,3845802,1220%0%
21John LehmanD2,0601,050256162,525-111.3%-1.3%125,06620,19714,2365.2%1.8%
22Robert WirchD1086110162,605690.1%0%139,5498,16311,3180.7%0.1%
23Pat KreitlowD000162,560240%0%157,0495011,2690%0%
24Julie LassaD000162,6371010%0.1%155,1476472,2540%0%
25Robert JauchD144661162,355-1810.1%-0.2%150,6496251,36210.6%0.1%
26Fred RisserD000162,8823460%0.2%129,69811,1688,3720%0%
27Jon ErpenbachD70539831162,363-1730.4%-0.5%150,3294,3823,3209.1%0.9%
28Mary LazichR000162,8373010%0.2%153,7442,1543,2630%0%
29Russell DeckerD000162,313-2230%-0.1%153,0926201,2100%0%
30Dave HansenD000162,7091730%0.1%144,6251,9807,6820%0%
31Kathleen VinehoutD88833839163,3708340.5%0%156,3561,1321,69329.9%2.3%
32Dan KapankeR29215616163,0685320.2%0.1%154,8041,5241,68710.2%0.9%
33Theodore KanavasR000162,474-620%0%149,9971,6226,4370%0%

Sources and methodology

Senator (2008)
The incumbent legislator as of January 2008
Party
Party of incumbent
Prisoners (state and federal)
This is the number of state and federal prisoners incarcerated in the district. The Census publishes the number of incarcerated people in each block in Summary File 1, Table P37. We then identified which incarcerated populations in each block were state or federal prisoners.
Black prisoners
The Census publishes the race of the correctional population at the tract level in Summary File 1, Table PCT17B and at the block level for the total population in Table P7. We used these two data sources to identify the number of Black prisoners incarcerated in state or federal prisons in blocks in each district.
Latino Prisoners
The Census publishes the ethnicity of the correctional population at the tract level in Summary File 1, Table PCT17H and at the block level for the total population in Table P11. We used these two data sources to identify the number of Latino prisoners incarcerated in state or federal prisons in blocks in this district.
District population
This is the sum of the population of the census blocks in each district, calculated in ArcView 9.2
Percent of district that is incarcerated
This is the number of state and federal prisoners divided by the population of the district.
Percent deviation without prisoners
This is the size of the population deviation if prisoners had not been counted as residents of the prison district. It was calculated by taking the district population, subtracting the prison population and dividing the result by the ideal district population of 162,536.
White population
This is the number of people who were "Non-Hispanic White" as reported in Statistical Analysis of Wisconsin Legislative Districts, published by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.
Black population
This is the number of people who were "Non-Hispanic Black" as reported in Statistical Analysis of Wisconsin Legislative Districts, published by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.
Latino population
This is the number of people who were "Hispanic or Latino" as reported in Statistical Analysis of Wisconsin Legislative Districts, published by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.
Percent Black poplation incarcerated
This is the number of Blacks in state or federal prison divided by the number of Blacks in the district.
Percent Latino population incarcerated
This is the number of Latinos in state or federal prison divided by the number of Latinos in the district.

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