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.

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—Peter Wagner, Executive Director
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Tehama County, California

According to the 2000 Census, Tehama County, California has a population of 56,039 people. Of those, 47,518 (85%) are White, 318 (1%) are Black, and 8,871 (16%) are Latino[1]. However, 305 (or 1% of the 56,039 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Tehama County a population of 55,734 with a demographic that is 85% White, 1% Black, and 16% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000
Incarcerated
population
Actual
population
Total 56,039 305 55,734
White 47,518 218 47,300
Black 318 28 290
Latino 8,871 65 8,806


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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