HELP US END MASS INCARCERATIONThe Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 23 years, thanks to individual donors like you.
Chris Hayes credits Executive Director Peter Wagner with “single-handedly” bringing the issue of prison-based gerrymandering to light. Up with Chris Hayes, Feb 18, 2012
The Prison Policy Initiative’s research was cited in a question by Juan Williams to Rep. Pon Paul in the Republican Primary Debate in South Carolina, Fox News, January 16, 2012
Zones: Effective Deterrent? Are they an effective deterrent, or just a lever to force lesser pleas from drug offenders? The new DA Talks About Drug-Free School Zones, by Maureen Turner, Valley Advocate, March 18, 2011
Rethinking Drug-Free School Zones: Gov. Patrick proposes changing a
policy critics say is unfair and ineffective, by Maureen Turner,
Valley Advocate, February 10, 2011
Jail and the Census:
A Change That Counts, Easthampton’s Prison Policy Initiative
scores a victory for fair political representation, by Maureen Turner,
Valley Advocate, April 8, 2010
On the Count: The Prison & Criminal Justice Report with Eddie Ellis on WBAI New York interviews New York Senator Schneiderman and Executive Director Peter Wagner about legislation pending in New York State to end prison-based gerrymandering. January 16, 2010 mp3 25:50
Census: Where Should We Count Prison Inmates? Dodge County Wisconsin Supervisor Jim Leyman and Peter Wagner discuss prison-based gerrymandering with Celeste Headlee on The Take Away, December 31, 2009. Listen: mp3, 6:40
TalkBack! with Hugh Hamilton, WBAI New York. Hugh interviews Brenda Wright of Demos about the Census, mass incarceration and the lessons of Michael Cady. December 30, 2010 mp3 28:13
The
Prison Town Advantage Inmates who can’t vote nevertheless add
to the power of the politicians who don’t represent them, by
Maureen Turner, Valley Advocate (Western Mass.), October 8, 2009
Prisons can inflate districts’
influence: A researcher says Oklahoma voters get unequal
representation, by Michael Overall, Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.)
September 20, 2009
Before Census, a Debate Over Prisoners:
Critics Say Current Method of Counting Inmates Distorts Rural, Urban
Tallies, by Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post, April 26,
2009
Urban
Penalty: Do drug-free school zones unfairly target cities and people
of color?, by Maureen Turner, Valley Advocate (Western
Massachusetts) February 26, 2009
Fuzzy
Math: Is the Census Bureau creating unfair politics in Wisconsin?,
by Evan Solochek, Milwaukee Magazine March 2008. (Winner: Best
Single Feature Story Under 30”, 2008
Excellence in Journalism, Milwaukee Press Club)
Using inmates for politics
Prison census boosts political influence for some N.Y. counties, by
Michael Hill, Associated Press, Press-Republican (Plattsburgh,
NY) and in papers across upstate New York, July 17, 2007
Unfinished business, The Post-Standard editorial (Syracuse,
NY), May 20, 2007
Prisoners of the Census Bureau: How and where the U.S. counts
inmates has huge, and unsettling, consequences, by Marie Gottschalk,
Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2007
Reversing the Prison Trend, El Diario Editorial, February 15,
2007. Also in Spanish: Retrocediendo la tendencia en prisiones
Census Boon? Some critics say districts with prisons are given too
much aid, political clout, by Frank Green, Richmond
Times-Dispatch (VA), January 22, 2007
The Empire Stakes, 2012: N.Y. Redistricting Is Already a Hot Topic
as Seat Loss Looms, by Josh Kurtz, Roll Call, January 18,
2007
We’re a long way from real democracy Bad laws and manipulation
still keep many people, especially poor and minority, out of the voting
booth, editorial by Cole Krawitz and Jay Toole, New York Newsday,
August 25, 2006
Contract Lens: As states continue to outsource corrections services,
they are struggling to find the right level of private-prison scrutiny,
by Zach Patton, Governing Magazine, April 2005
Where prisoners ‘live’
is a question of power Counting prisoners as residents of rural
counties robs cities of clout, money and services, some say, by Asher
Price, Austin American-Statesman, November 8, 2004
Head count:
The Census counts prisoners as residents of the towns where
they’re incarcerated. One crusading lawyer from Northampton thinks
this little clerical matter is a big problem for American democracy, by
Drake Bennett, Boston Globe, September 26, 2004
Census shorts
urban population Prisoner relocation skews census stats for large
Ohio cities, by Adam Cook, The Lantern (Ohio State University),
July 15, 2004.
Down for the (Re)count The Census counts prisoners in
their cells, not their neighborhoods. Now a move is afoot to change
their addresses. By Matthew Schuerman, City Limits, December 15,
2003.