New Connecticut Law Abolishes Prison Gerrymandering

CONNECTICUT — Inmates in the state will no longer count as residents of the towns where they are incarcerated when officials are determining the size and boundaries of state legislative districts and municipal voting districts.

Gov. Ned Lamont signed a new law abolishing the so-called "prison gerrymandering" on Wednesday.

Connecticut's inmates will now be counted as living in the towns where they most recently lived immediately prior to their incarceration.

The old system had the net effect of, over time, stripping political power from cities and transferring it to rural areas.

"Quite frankly, that practice was an artificial relic designed to discount, disvalue, and disenfranchise the voices and votes of people of color, whom the criminal justice system has repeatedly failed," Lamont said.

The legislation is Public Act 21-13. It goes into effect immediately.