Mass Incarceration Draws Its Own Maps and Creates a Country in Its Image
The New Republic, April 1, 2021: Mass Incarceration Draws Its Own Maps and Creates a Country in Its Image
“When people become incarcerated, their state and local representation changes from their home district to their district of incarceration. But most elected officials don’t see themselves as also representing their incarcerated constituents; a study by researcher Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman found that Indiana state legislators considered themselves more accountable to currently incarcerated former constituents than to those living in a prison in their district. When Young, the legislator from Anamosa, was asked in 2008 if he felt the people incarcerated in his district were also his constituents, he responded: ‘They don’t vote, so, I guess, not really.’”
Additional reading:
Prison Legal News, March 4, 2021: States Rush to End Prison Gerrymandering Before Districts Are Set For Another 10 years
The Appeal, March 2, 2021: The Fight for People in Prison to Vote Reaches Congress
NPR, December 31, 2019: 'Your Body Being Used': Where Prisoners Who Can't Vote Fill Voting Districts
