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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Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

According to the 2000 Census, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana has a population of 26,757 people. Of those, 18,668 (70%) are White, 6,258 (23%) are Black, and 433 (2%) are Latino[1]. However, 311 (or 1% of the 26,757 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 Plaquemines Parish a population of 26,446 with a demographic that is 70% White, 23% Black, and 2% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000
Incarcerated
population
Actual
population
Total 26,757 311 26,446
White 18,668 99 18,569
Black 6,258 197 6,061
Latino 433 4 429


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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