WENY-TV (ABC/CBS/CW)
Binghamton, NY
http://www.weny.com/News-Regional.asp?ARTICLE3890=9151003
By Renata Stiehl
ALBANY — As the 2010 U.S. Census gets underway, New York state lawmakers announced a campaign aimed at changing how the state’s prison population is counted.
A statewide effort is underway to pass legislation that would require prisoners be counted as living in their home communities, not at prisons. Currently, the Census counts prisoners where they are incarcerated, which impacts the drawings of state and local legislative districts.
Critics say the current method distorts political representation in urban communities, where most convicted felons are from. There are nearly 60,000 inmates in 67 New York state prisons.
