With the 2020 census shortly underway, we spend today’s episode exploring an overlooked aspect of representation and democracy: prison gerrymandering. Our first guest is independent journalist Natasha Haverty, who recently reported on prison gerrymandering in Wisconsin for a segment on Reveal.

She and Carousel discuss the prison population in Wisconsin, how the census is used not only to allocate federal dollars but to draw political districts, the historical three-fifths compromise and the New Jim Crow, and the ongoing exploitation of incarcerated and Black bodies for political gain while denying them proper voice or representation.

For the final fifteen minutes, we get updates from Representative David Crowley about his work on Assembly Bill 400, regarding fair practices in counting state prisoners for redistricting purposes.

For more information:

Prison Policy Initiative

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/

Prison Gerrymandering Project

https://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/

Image by Barbara Rosner from Pixabay / filter added