The Fulcrum Staff Reports
A nearly decade-long drive to end what’s known as “prison gerrymandering” in New Jersey is accelerating toward success, likely in plenty of time for the redrawing of the state’s political maps for the coming decade.
Legislation that would count incarcerated people at their home addresses, rather than where they are in imprisoned, is headed to the full state House after it was endorsed 7-4 in committee Monday. The same bill was passed by the state Senate a year ago.
The measure is being pushed hard by Democrats from urban areas, who say their political power is being shortchanged by the current system — which is now the practice in 44 states. If their bill becomes law, New Jersey would join only California, New York, Washington, Maryland, Nevada and Delaware in counting prisoners where they last lived before their convictions.