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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Jasper County, Texas

According to the 2000 Census, Jasper County, Texas has a population of 35,604 people. Of those, 27,855 (78%) are White, 6,341 (18%) are Black, and 1,384 (4%) are Latino[1]. However, 632 (or 2% of the 35,604 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 Jasper County a population of 34,972 with a demographic that is 79% White, 17% Black, and 4% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000
Incarcerated
population
Actual
population
Total 35,604 632 34,972
White 27,855 245 27,610
Black 6,341 277 6,064
Latino 1,384 151 1,233


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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