Time to end prison gerrymandering in Connecticut
By SCOT X. ESDAILE
SPECIAL TO HARTFORD COURANT |
MAR 06, 2020
Connecticut proudly calls itself the Constitution State. But the state’s stubborn reliance on “prison gerrymandering” unfairly robs urban communities of political power and denies voters — especially black and brown voters — the constitutional guarantee of “one person, one vote.”
Connecticut draws its state legislative districts using “prison gerrymandering,” counting incarcerated people as residents of the districts where they are incarcerated, rather than in their home districts. It means an area such as north central Connecticut, where many prisons are located, would have an extra House district or two compared to if those incarcerated people were counted in Hartford, which would then have those districts and their representatives...
