Last month I posted a blog on prison-based gerrymandering -- the practice of allowing state and local governments to count incarcerated persons as residents of the district where they are being held instead of in their home districts. Doing this artificially inflates the population of the districts where prisons and jails are located (most often rural, white communities) and gives said districts undue political influence. Counting incarcerated people at home would end prison gerrymandering.
The blog included a request for readers to sign a petition calling on the Census Bureau to abandon this anti-democratic and racist practice. More than 40,000 members of the Daily Kos community answered and shared their reasons for wanting to end prison-based gerrymandering.
The clock is ticking: The Census Bureau will only accept comments through September 1, 2016. We'll need hundreds more comments to sway the Bureau. We've made it easy to submit your thoughts: Click here to see talking points and join those who have already taken action to end prison gerrymandering for good. Below are a few of the best comments so far.
"This is an important issue - even though I live in one of those rural, predominantly white areas where we have a large prison (CMC). Inmates should be counted in the community to which they will be paroled." — John, California
"[Federal Correctional Institution] McKean, in Marshburg, Pa., should not impact the census or the voting weight of its township or the county or school district. Its employees should be counted where they live. The inmates should be counted in their areas of presumed residence when released-- the place where they would return after serving their sentences, or being paroled or pardoned." — Martha, Pennsylvania
"I am a former prosecutor. Prison-based gerrymandering is fundamentally dishonest. It is time to stop it." — Sarah, Massachusetts
"As a former Census employee, I urge this adjustment in determining residence. We are not a lazy agency; and we do the right thing." — Jerome, Arizona
"As an architect who has designed prison facilities, I understand the concentrated populations detained within. Counting these people as residents within a particular area distorts the population base and is clearly inappropriate census data. Change this practice now!" — Barrie, Illinois
"This has happened in the town I grew up in. When I was there, the population was a little over 2000 people, but when they decide to add the population of Pelican Bay State Prison and the other unincorporated areas surrounding it, the population shot up to almost 7000. This is a ridiculous notion. The population of a city or town should only include the RESIDENTS of said town." — Francesca, California
Even if you already signed the petition, you can still leave a comment. Click here to see talking points and to take action to end prison gerrymandering for good.
Bonus: Fans of Oz may remember this scene where Harold Perrineau's character, Augustus Hill, succinctly outlines the problem with prison-based gerrymandering.