Site Network: Prison Policy Initiative | Prisoners of the Census
by Peter Wagner, March 9, 2010 Link
Casey Selix writes about our new report, Importing Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in Minnesota in the Minnesota Post: Prison-policy study shows how inmate counts yield redistricting clout.
by Aleks Kajstura, March 9, 2010 Link
The federal Census counts incarcerated people as if they resided where the prison is located, and that creates big problems for democracy in Minnesota, charges a new report by the non-profit Prison Policy Initiative.
American democracy relies on Census counts to apportion political power on the basis of equal population. By Minnesota law, prisoners can’t vote and remain residents of their home communities. “By relying on Census Bureau counts of prison populations to pad legislative districts with prisons, Minnesota is inflating the votes of residents who live near prisons at the expense of every other resident,” said report author Aleks Kajstura.
“Every decade we redraw our districts. The state uses Census data to redraw its own districts. Using prisons to pad the populations of a small number of districts dilutes the votes of everyone else,” said State Senator Linda Higgins – DFL-Minneapolis. Senator Higgins and Representative Champion are developing legislation to change the way Minnesota uses census data in redistricting. Read more »
by Peter Wagner, March 9, 2010 Link
The Census Project Blog has posted my guest blog post: Prison Populations a Big Issue for Census. Check it out.
by Aleks Kajstura, March 8, 2010 Link
Recent media coverage makes it clear that there is a misconception about basic principles of our electoral system. Many people are claiming that the Census Bureau has changed some policy and is now allowing states to exclude certain populations in the redistricting process.
Actually, the Census Bureau has no authority over districting. The Census Bureau does provide data that states can use in their individual redistricting processes. States use this data because it is easily accessible and often the only or best data available. States were never required to use this data. (Next week I will blog about a court case that expressly prohibited using Census data where using the data would have lead to unequal districts.)
The Census Bureau recently announced that it will publish group quarters population data in May 2011 (prisons are one kind of group quarters). If they wish, the states can adjust their populations, taking into consideration the location and population of prisons, when redistricting. The Bureau is simply making an existing process easier. A few states have already required their counties to make this exact adjustment in their populations when redistricting, and many more counties made such adjustments on their own.
The Census Bureau was simply responding to a need that was already there. The Census Bureau has no “new policy” regarding populations used for redistricting; that choice is, and always has been, reserved by each state and local goverment.
by Peter Wagner, March 8, 2010 Link
Olivia Cummings and I have finished Importing Constituents: Incarcerated People and Political Clout in Maryland, our district-by-district analysis of how crediting Baltimore City’s incarcerated residents to remote districts distorts democracy and dilutes the votes of all voters in all other districts.
We’ve also released two fact sheets:
and created a new page for the Maryland campaign.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter about the ongoing movement to change the U.S. Census' method of counting people in prison.
Not near you? Invite Peter to your town.
