NEW REPORT: Redistricting: Where Do Incarcerated People Count?

For Immediate Release

August 30, 2021 – On August 20, New Jersey became the latest state to end prison gerrymandering, ensuring that people who are incarcerated will be counted in their last known address before they were incarcerated. This will have big implications on redistricting, according to a new report by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP).

The report, Redistricting: Where Do Incarcerated People Count?, uses data from the 2020 Census and interactive maps to highlight which congressional and state legislative districts have the highest share of people who are incarcerated.

Key findings include:

• The congressional districts most likely to be impacted by the end of prison gerrymandering will be:

• • Congressional District 2, with 9,164 people who are incarcerated
  • Congressional District 10, with 9,661 people who are incarcerated
  • Congressional District 3, with 7,455 people who are incarcerated
• The state legislative districts most likely to be impacted by the end of prison gerrymandering will be:
  • Legislative District 29 (Newark), with 9,349 people who are incarcerated
  • Legislative District 12 (Jackson), with 6,650 people who are incarcerated
  • Legislative District 1 (Vineland), with 4,245 people who are incarcerated
  • Legislative District 3 (Bridgeton), with 4,245 people who are incarcerated
  • Legislative District 15 (Trenton), with 3,427 people who are incarcerated

“With prison gerrymandering, communities where prisons and jails were built receive outsize representation based on their incarcerated population,” writes NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Peter Chen in the report. “Conversely, communities that have been disproportionately harmed by mass incarceration have had their populations artificially lowered by their incarcerated population, even though that population will inevitably require services, infrastructure, and representation upon their return.”

Read the full report here.

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New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) is a nonpartisan think tank that drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, analysis, and advocacy.