FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 27, 2010   
MEDIA CONTACT:
STEVEN ENGELHARDT (314) 504-4029

Clay Urges State and Local Governments to Take Advantage of Earlier Census Counts for Incarcerated Populations to Make Better Decisions
Historic Agreement with Census Bureau Will Help
Restore Fairness, Reverse a Historic Injustice

WASHINGTON — At a forum sponsored today by the Demos organization, the Prison Policy Initiative, and the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation, Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census & National Archives, urged state and local governments to take full advantage of the ground-breaking agreement that he negotiated with the U.S. Census to provide counts of incarcerated populations much earlier than in previous years. The policy change, which moves up the date when counts of incarcerated populations are reported to the states, could potentially result in increased minority representation in state legislatures and local governments. 

In his comments at the forum, the Congressman noted the major positive impact of the new agreement.  “This agreement will provide local and state governments with more accurate information, much earlier in the process,” said Clay. “That will allow them to make better decisions to serve all their citizens fairly. I want to commend U.S. Census Bureau Director, Dr. Robert Groves and his leadership team, for their actions to improve accuracy, restore fairness, and reverse historic patterns of injustice that have been applied to prisoners for many years. The prison population in this country numbers more than two million people. It is made up disproportionately of African Americans, Latinos and other minorities. The Census is now giving state and local governments an opportunity to stand up for fairness and justice by counting incarcerated persons where they resided before sentencing. I encourage them to take full advantage of this decision in order to restore fairness for all their constituents.”

Previously, the Census Bureau provided counts from group quarters, like prisons, only after states had finished their redistricting. That resulted in mostly rural districts with prisons getting extra representation in their legislatures.  If states take advantage of this more timely information, the impact on the composition of state legislatures, local councils and other elected bodies could be very significant,

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