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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Medina County, Texas

According to the 2000 Census, Medina County, Texas has a population of 39,304 people. Of those, 31,200 (79%) are White, 866 (2%) are Black, and 17,873 (45%) are Latino[1]. However, 1,342 (or 3% of the 39,304 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 Medina County a population of 37,962 with a demographic that is 80% White, 1% Black, and 46% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000
Incarcerated
population
Actual
population
Total 39,304 1,342 37,962
White 31,200 736 30,464
Black 866 597 269
Latino 17,873 449 17,424


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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