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August 22, 2010
An End to Prison Gerrymandering: New York Times Read Full Article; By the Editors; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based GerrymanderingA Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady; Tags: Prisons and the Census

August 9, 2010
Response to 'Griffo Criticizes Phantom Population Law': Oneida County Courier Read Full Article; Read more; Tags: Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Brenda Wright

August 4, 2010

New York to Correct Miscount of Incarcerated People

Awaiting Governor Paterson's signature

August 3, 2010 -- Today, the New York State Senate passed legislation ensuring that incarcerated persons will be counted as residents of their home communities when state and local legislative districts are redrawn in New York next year. The measure, already passed by the Assembly, was included in the budget package that now awaits Governor Paterson's signature.

The state legislature and some counties and municipalities have previously counted incarcerated people as residents of the prison location, inflating the local population counts used for legislative districts. Padding legislative districts with prison populations artificially enhances the weight of a vote cast in those districts at the expense of all districts that do not contain a prison.

Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady

Tags: Prisons and the Census

July 20, 2010
Prison Gerrymandering Still An Issue For the Eastern Shore: African-Americans need a foothold in Somerset County's all white power structure; Your Public Radio Read Full Article; By Karen Hosler; Read more; Tags: Prisons and the Census

July 7, 2010

Delaware Passes Law to Count Incarcerated Persons at their Home Addresses for Redistricting

Becomes Second State To Adopt Reform Ensuring Fairness and Accuracy of Redistricting

Brenda Wright

Dover--On June 30, the Delaware Senate passed a bill ensuring that incarcerated persons will be counted as residents of their home addresses when new state and local legislative districts are drawn in Delaware. The bill previously passed in the House, and is now awaiting Governor Jack Markell's signature.

Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady

Tags: Prisons and the Census

May 19, 2010
Mom, Why Is God Not Helping Us?: Private, For-profit Prisons Holding Children and Families; Horizons Read Full Article; Si Kahn; Read more; Tags: Prisons and the Census

May 18, 2010
Political Prisoners in the United States?: Philadelphia Jewish Voice Read Full Article; By Dr. Daniel E. Loeb; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Brenda Wright

April 15, 2010
Maryland Changes how Prisoners are Counted in Census: Washington Post Read Full Article; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census

April 14, 2010
Maryland's Big Step on Prison Census Reform: Change.org Read Full Article; By Matt Kelley; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census

April 14, 2010
A Fairer Way to Count: New York Times Read Full Article; By Editorial; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census

April 13, 2010

Maryland Enacts Law to Count Incarcerated People at Their Home Addresses

Law, First of Its Kind, Will Improve Fairness and Accuracy of the Census Data Used for Redistricting

Brenda Wright

Annapolis, MD--Today, Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law a bill ensuring that incarcerated persons will be counted as residents of their home addresses when new state and local legislative districts are drawn in Maryland.

The U.S. Census counts incarcerated people as residents of the prison location. When state and local government bodies use Census counts to draw legislative districts, they unintentionally enhance the weight of a vote cast in districts that contain prisons at the expense of all other districts in the state. Maryland is the first state to pledge to collect the home addresses of incarcerated people and correct the data state-wide.

Read: In Support of Maryland State Assembly Bill 496

Tags: Prisons and the Census

April 5, 2010
Our View: Fairer Election Districts Ahead: Bill to remove inmates from redistricting formulas passed.; DelmarvaNow.com Read Full Article; By Editorial; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census

March 31, 2010
Why the State Should Stop "Prison Gerrymandering": One person, one vote? Not in Connecticut. Not in most places.); New Haven Advocate Read Full Article; By Betsy Yagla; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Brenda Wright

March 30, 2010
The Census and the Cell Block: This year, the census will count over a million inmates in the wrong place--and their home communities will suffer for it.; American Prospect Online Read Full Article; Brenda Wright; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census

February 11, 2010
Prisons, Redistricting and the Census: The Census Bureau struck a blow for electoral fairness recently when it decided to speed up publication of its data on prison populations to ensure it is available for the next round of redistricting.; New York Times Read Full Article; By Editorial; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based GerrymanderingA Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady; Tags: Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Steven Carbo Brenda Wright

February 11, 2010
New Option for the States on Inmates in the Census: The Census Bureau has agreed to give states a tool that would count prison populations as residents of their home districts.; New York Times Read Full Article; By Sam Roberts; Read more; Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. CadyA Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Steven Carbo Brenda Wright

February 11, 2010
How Should Prisoners be Counted for the Census?: When it comes to taking the 2010 census, cities like Philadelphia see a value in counting prisoners serving time elsewhere as Philly's own. Whyy's Susan Phillips reports.; WHYY Read Full Article; Brenda Wright; Read more; Read: A Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based GerrymanderingA Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady; Tags: Prisons and the Census

February 11, 2010
States Get New Leeway to Tally Prisoners in Census: Prisoners will soon be bigger players in those high-stakes redistricting fights thanks to a change in federal policy governing how they're to be counted in the 2010 census.; Associated Press Read Full Article; Read more; Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. CadyA Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering; Tags: Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Brenda Wright

February 10, 2010

Advocates Commend Census Bureau for Enhancing States' Access to Data on Prison Populations in 2010 Census

Bureau's Action Is First Step Toward Ending Prison-Based Gerrymandering

Steven Carbo Brenda Wright

New York, NY--This week, the Census Bureau has agreed to produce a new data product that will assist state and local governments in avoiding prison-based gerrymandering, whereby districts that contain prisons are given extra representation in the legislature. The move was commended by a national network of advocates working to reform state redistricting practices, including the Prison Policy Initiative, Demos, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), and The National Coalition.

Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. CadyA Dilution of Democracy: Prison-Based Gerrymandering

Tags: Prisons and the Census

January 28, 2010
Inmates' Stock Is Rising in Albany District Fight: As state lawmakers prepare to redraw the boundaries of Congressional and state legislative districts, one segment of the population is quickly becoming a coveted constituency.; New York Times Read Full Article; By Jeremy W. Peters; Read more; Tags: Felon Disfranchisement | Prisons and the Census; Staff Mentioned: Steven Carbo

January 27, 2010

Statewide Coalition Kicks Off Campaign to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering

Rev. Al Sharpton, Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, Assm. Hakeem Jeffries Will Introduce Bill to Change How New York Uses Census Prisoner Counts

Steven Carbo

New York--The Rev. Al Sharpton, Senator Eric T. Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries joined forces with a statewide coalition today to announce a new organizing campaign plan to end prison-based gerrymandering in New York State before the 2010 Census.

Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady

Tags: Prisons and the Census

December 30, 2009
Counting Prisoners in the County Where They Reside: Brenda Wright discusses putting an end to prison-based gerrymandering in New York.; Talk Back! With Hugh Hamilton, WBAI Radio (NYC) Read Full Article; Brenda Wright; Read more; Read: A Prison is Not a Home: The Lesson of People v. Cady; Tags: Felon Disfranchisement | Prisons and the Census