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Prison Policy Initiative press releases
Minnesota ends prison gerrymandering With Governor Tim Walz's signature, the state is the latest to reject the Census Bureau’s flawed and outdated way of counting incarcerated people. May 20, 2024
Illinois strengthens its anti-prison gerrymandering law As the Census Bureau continues to count incarcerated people in the wrong place, states like Illinois that have ended prison gerrymandering prepare for the 2030 count. June 14, 2023
Washington State passes bill ending prison gerrymandering Pending Governor Jay Inslee's signature, Washington State will become the fifth state to count incarcerated people at their home addresses during redistricting. April 23, 2019
New report, Era of Mass Expansion, looks at states to explain jail growth Since the 1980's crime has fallen, but the number of people in jails tripled. Our new report finds two troubling explanations for why this has occurred: the rise in pre-trial detention and the renting of jail space to other authorities. . May 31, 2017
Federal Court Rules that Prison-based Gerrymandering Violates the Constitution A U.S. District Judge ruled today that the City of Cranston violated the one person, one vote principle of the U.S. constitution when it counted people incarcerated at the Adult Correctional Institutions as "residents" of one Ward of the City. May 24, 2016
Virginia ends mandatory prison gerrymandering Governor signs HB1339, changes law that required some counties to dilute the votes of county residents who did not live adjacent to a prison. March 20, 2013
FCC proposes to regulate prison telephone industry SumOfUs partners with the Prison Policy Initiative to deliver 36,690 petitions to the FCC calling for it to cap rates charged to families of incarcerated people. November 15, 2012
Civil Rights Groups Take Stand for Maryland's "Prisoners of the Census" Redistricting Law PPI and other civil rights groups announced that they will file an amicus brief to defend the “No Representation Without Population Act,” which ended prison-based gerrymandering in Maryland and is currently being challenged before a federal court in Fletcher v. Lamone. November 18, 2011
Report on prison-based gerrymandering in Illinois released A new report on prison-based gerrymandering in Illinois examines how the Census Bureau's prison miscount harms democracy in the state and county government. February 2, 2010