At a time when California prisons and redistricting are much debated issues, a new state bill seeks to address a problem at the intersection of the two: prison-based gerrymandering. Described as “representation without population,” prison-based gerrymandering occurs when prisoners are counted, for census purposes, in the district their prison is located. Opponents say this artificially inflates the population of districts where prisons are built, and dilutes the numbers in prisoners’ hometowns. The Prison Policy Initiative, or PPI, estimates the 2010 Census counted 2 million Americans in the “wrong place” because of the practice, not just in California, but all over the nation. In 2008, the US Department of Justice pegged the California prison population at 173,000 prisoners, many of them residing in facilities hundreds of miles from their last known address. California Assemblyman Mike Davis is the author of Assembly Bill 420, which would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to submit last known addresses of all inmates to the Redistricting Commission. AB420 has made it through the Assembly and will come before the state Senate when it reconvenes in August.

Assemblyman Mike Davis is from the 48th District here in Los Angeles, He is Vice Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and also a member of the Assembly Rules Committee in addition to others and he served as Assistant Majority Whip. He spoke with Uprising host, Sonali Kolhatkar, on Friday July 29th, 2011.

Watch the interview here:

Martina Steiner recorded this interview.