“There are many ways to hijack political power. One of them is to draw state or city legislative districts around large prisons — and pretend that the inmates are legitimate constituents.”—Brent Staples
What’s new
- Rhode Island takes a (small) step toward ending prison gerrymandering Decision by redistricting commission means 44% of people incarcerated by the state will be counted in the right district Read more
- For the first time ever, Tennessee counties can avoid prison gerrymandering A change to state law frees counties to draw districts that truly represent the residents of their communities. Read more
- How many states have ended prison gerrymandering? About a dozen*! *Our new chart details how to quantify the progress made across the country. Read more
Is prison gerrymandering new to you?
Welcome! We wrote a guide to the resources on this website.
Progress towards ending prison gerrymandering
The Prison Policy Initiative launched a movement to protect our democracy from the prison industrial complex. And we’re winning; 47% of US residents now live in a state that has formally rejected prison gerrymandering:
The national movement against prison gerrymandering began in 2001 when the founders of the Prison Policy Initiative discovered that the sheer size of the prison population was combining with an outdated Census Bureau rule to seriously distort how political decisions are made in this country. We put numbers to the problem and suggested solutions in a series of reports and sparked a national movement.
Since then, we’ve made tremendous progress towards ending prison gerrymandering:
- Eleven states passed legislation to end prison-based gerrymandering and count incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes. Maryland and New York's laws changed the 2011 redistricting, and California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington State's laws will apply to the 2020 redistricting cycle. Illinois, will roll out their implementation in time for 2030. Additionally, Pennsylvania's Legislative Redistricting Commission is counting people at home of its own initiative to avoid prison gerrymandering for the 2020 redistricting cycle. New York's law was upheld by the New York Supreme Court, and Maryland's law was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.
- The Census Bureau agreed to publish prison count data earlier than in the past, in order to assist states and counties with reallocating or removing incarcerated populations during the 2010 redistricting process, and for 2020 will release the data even earlier, bundling the prison count with the traditional (PL 94-171) redistricting data.
- Our research and organizing has led hundreds of county and municipal governments across the country to reject the Census Bureau’s prison counts and avoid prison-based gerrymandering.
- We led hundreds of civil rights, voting rights and criminal justice organizations and nearly 100,000 individuals to ask the Census Bureau to end prison gerrymandering before the 2020 Census.
- To support further progress, we released a guide to ending prison gerrymandering for state legislators. A joint effort with SiX, it includes lessons from our previous advocacy, detailed policy recommendations, talking points, and more to guide states introducing and passing legislation.
Don’t miss two of our resources:
Ending Prison Gerrymandering: How state legislators can ensure accurate & equitable redistricting
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No, prison gerrymandering doesn't reallocate $1,838 per person
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Recommended Reading:
About the Prison Policy Initiative
Learn more about the organization behind the Prison Gerrymandering Project.
In prisons, Blacks and Latinos do the time while Whites get the jobs
We explore the racial disparity inside prisons.
Rome NY ends prison gerrymandering, Census Bureau can do better
Rome finally corrected the problem of prison gerrymandering within its borders; other cities and counties need the Census Bureau's help.
Prison-based gerrymandering's historical precedent
This is not the first time a policy barred people of color from the polls and transferred their political power to white voters.
Events
- January 25, 2022:
Research Director Wendy Sawyer will be a part of a panel discussion on the intersecting challenges of health and housing facing women, trans women, and LGBQIA+ individuals as they return from incarceration. The discussion is hosted by the Fortune Society. Register to attend here.
Not near you?
Invite us to your city, college or organization.