A federal judge in Connecticut is allowing a lawsuit that would change the way the state counts prisoners when drawing up legislative districts.
The NAACP filed the lawsuit last June. The civil rights group called it the first statewide challenge to prison gerrymandering. The group says it’s unfair to include inmates in the population counts of the legislative districts in which they’re incarcerated, rather than in their home districts.
The group says that inflates the electoral power of white, rural voters who make up most of the population in districts that house prisons.
The NAACP says it hopes the Connecticut case can serve as a national template. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill wanted the case dismissed, saying the grounds for the lawsuit were unconstitutional.
