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: The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

OR: Prison Communities: Representation is Not Created Equal Bill would end gerrymandering in sparsely populated communities

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Prison Communities: Representation is Not Created Equal Bill would end gerrymandering in sparsely populated communities By Brian Stimson of The Skanner Rep. Chip Shields hopes to bring fairness to the way prisoners are counted in Oregon. Currently, prisoners are counted as residents of the correctional institution in which they are serving time, inflating population statistics of the mostly rural communities in which prisons exist. This population count inaccurately skews congressional representation in sparsely populated areas, says Shields. This bill would rectify that inconsistency as Oregon prepares to undergo a congressional and legislative redistricting process. Shields? bill would require the Department of Corrections to list an offender?s residence as the address they were living when they were arrested...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on March 28, 2009 (boomark / email).