Live Breaking News & Updates on Kurt Giles

Stay updated with breaking news from Kurt giles. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.

Critics say prisons give rural Michigan towns unfair edge in redistricting

As Michigan's redistricting panel prepares to approve new legislative boundaries this month, some activists say proposed maps give rural areas outsized clout because of how inmate populations are counted. Even though the roughly 35,000 people serving sentences in Michigan prisons can't vote, they are counted as residents of prisons where they are held for purposes of representation. Opponents call that "prison gerrymandering" because it inflates the population and power of smaller communities. Activists want inmates to follow the lead of Pennsylvania and count inmates as residents of their home address, which are more likely to be urban areas like Detroit. "Districts where they're incarcerated get more representation white rural districts, whereas urban districts that have more people of color tend to lose representation and tend to have just less of a voice in their government," said Mike Wessler, communications director for the Prison Policy I ....

United States , New York , State House , Villanova University , New Jersey , Gratiot County , Mike Wessler , Branden Snyder , Sara Cambensy , Rory Kramer , Brianna Remster , Abby Mitch , Kurt Giles , Edward Woods , Sylvia Santana , Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission , Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey , Michigan Department Of Corrections , Prison Policy Initiative , Michigan Department , Upper Peninsula , Detroit Action ,