Bipartisan Call for Change In Where to Count Prisoners

Bipartisan Call for Change In Where to Count Prisoners

A pair of Montana state senators, one Democrat and one Republican, joined forces with an op-ed opposing �prison gerrymandering.� They declared that, �the Census Bureau gets it wrong when it counts incarcerated people in prison cells rather than their home communities. When states use this flawed data to draw new legislative districts during redistricting, it paints a distorted picture of the state.�

The op-ed highlighted an example of that distortion in the count of Native Americans, who �account for just over 6 percent of Montana�s population but roughly 24 percent of its state prison population. By counting them at the prison instead of at their homes before incarceration � often on our state�s seven tribal reservations � the Census Bureau dilutes Native representation in the legislature. A similar dynamic plays out across economic lines as well, with many of our state�s poorest neighborhoods boasting some of the highest incarceration rates.�

The pair concluded that, �A community shouldn�t get a louder voice in state government just because it contains a prison.�

• “Prisons shouldn�t be called homes, especially in the Census.” By Shane Morgeau and Jason Small. The Hill. August 29, 2023.