Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

Section III: The Prison Economy

Prisoners and the Census

  • Percentage of prisoners counted by the decennial Census as residents where they are incarcerated rather than at their homes534: 100%
  • Percentage of New York prisoners from New York City535: 65.5%
  • Percentage of New York prisoners from the upstate region536: 24.2%
  • Percentage of New York prisoners incarcerated in an upstate prison537: 91%
  • Percentage of New York prisons built since 1982 upstate538: 100%
  • Year New York State sent jail inmate Michael Cady to prison for using his jail address to register to vote539: 1893
  • Number of years Cady had lived at the Tombs jail540: 7
  • Approximate number of times Cady confessed to vagrancy so he could stay for another 6 months541: 14
  • Percent of New York State Court of Appeals justices who voted to uphold the conviction because a prison cannot be a residence address542: 100%
  • Likely number of current New York State prisoners who choose to live at the prison the way Michael Cady did: 0
  • Number of New York State Senate districts based in part on prisoners that don't live in the district543: 23
  • Number of Senate districts that are at least 2% prisoners544: 4
  • Number of New York State Assembly districts based in part on prisoners that don't live in the district545: 34
  • Number of Assembly districts that are at least 2% prisoners546: 10
  • Percentage of new district belonging to Redistricting Taskforce member Chris Ortloff that is prisoners547: 6.99%
  • Number of African-American adults in Ortloff's district548: 5,594
  • Percent of African-American adults in Ortloff's district who are barred by law because they are prisoners from ever voting for or against him549: 82.6%
  • Year the Supreme Court first ruled that the 14th Amendment required legislative districts to be based on equal population and the principle of "one person one vote"550: 1964
  • Number of years where New York has not counted prisoners as residents of legislative districts where they are incarcerated551: 0

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..