Our goal is to educate people about Prison Gerrymandering and to end the practice in Michigan.
For the purposes of redistricting, Michigan counts incarcerated people at their place of confinement rather than in their home communities. This counting method is known as Prison Gerrymandering, and it distorts democracy. Prison gerrymandering siphons political power into less-populated rural areas where prisons are located, and away from the urban communities where people would return to.
Learn More
- Watch the documentary Drawing the Line: Inside the Fight to End Prison Gerrymandering from Great Lakes Beacon which explains Prison Gerrymandering in Michigan and features several members of VAAC.
- For more information on prison gerrymandering, read the Prison Policy Initiative’s PRISON GERRYMANDERING PROJECT.
Take Action
- Support Michigan House Bill 4276 and Senate Bill 151, as described in this VAAC posting.
- Share your perspective with the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) as described in this VAAC posting.
- Join our Prison Gerrymandering team, by Contacting VAAC.
See VAAC posts related to Ending Prison Gerrymandering
- Prison Gerrymandering Training Sessions Announced
- WLNS News Segment on Prison Gerrymandering Features VAAC’s Danny Jones
- Drawing The Line: Film Screening and Roundtable Discussion Feb 24
- Opinion: It’s time to end ‘prison gerrymandering’ in Michigan
- VAAC Activism Impacts New District Maps
- Help Us Make #goodtrouble at MICRC on Friday 10/29/21
- Prison Gerrymandering Experts Provide Testimony to the MICRC
- Detroit Free Press Covers VAAC Advocacy on Prison Gerrymandering
- VAAC’s Danny Jones Published in Detroit News on Prison Gerrymandering
