Prison Gerrymandering
Updated: Jan 3
The practice of counting incarcerated people as residents of the prison's location for redistricting, instead of their actual home communities is known as prison gerrymandering. It's said to artificially inflate the political power of prison districts (often rural and white), and dilute the power of urban areas where incarcerated people come from, disproportionately affecting minority communities and violating "one person, one vote" principles. Because most prisoners can't vote, this shifts legislative seats and resources away from their home areas to the prison towns, creating unequal representation.
Below is a video:
When the Census comes around, inmates are counted as residents of wherever their prison facility is. And when it’s time to redraw congressional boundaries, that count has an effect on their home districts. Christina Greer and Aleks Kajstura join to highlight an absurd injustice.
From the video description:
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