Media

Our work to fight prison gerrymandering and voter purges in Rhode Island and Ohio, respectively.

Inequality is the common thread connecting every issue we work on at Demos, and challenging the public narrative about that inequality is essential to our work to solve it. This year, we’re proud to have an ally in that fight in the entire team behind the upcoming television documentary series America Divided, premiering this fall on EPIX.

Yesterday, a voting rights coalition asked the federal court to stop Ohio’s practice of removing properly registered voters from its voter registration list simply because they have not voted in recent elections.

Brenda Wright, an attorney with the public policy group Demos — which backed the lawsuit along with the Prison Policy Initiative — said the the litigation was aimed at getting localities to account for prisoners where it truly counts.

The ruling concluded that Cranston artificially inflated the population of Ward 6 by treating all inmates of the ACI as residents of the prison for redistricting purposes.

``I’m thrilled that our fight for equal representation has been successful,’’ said Karen Davidson, lead plaintiff, in a news release. ``Fairness in redistricting is a fundamental right and I’m  glad the court has vindicated our claims.’’

Lagueux gave the city thirty days to redraw the districts.

“This is a big win for democracy,” said Adam Lioz of Demos, counsel for the plaintiffs. “Prison gerrymandering distorts representation and should no longer be tolerated. This decision should pave the way for other courts to address this long-standing problem.”

Plaintiffs argued that the "prison gerrymandering" improperly considered ACI prisoners as constituents of local elected officials when they are instead "residents of their pre-incarceration communities for virtually all legal purposes, including voting."

"I'm thrilled that our fight for equal representation has been successful," said lead plaintiff Karen Davidson, of Cranston. "Fairness in redistricting is a fundamental right and I'm glad that the court has vindicated our claims."

City of Cranston, Rhode Island ordered to redraw district lines within 30 days.

Now more than ever, our progressive movement needs real leaders who are equipped with the skills, fortitude, and vision to meet the political and economic challenges we face as a nation. For nearly four decades, the United States Student Association (USSA) has fostered this leadership.

Demos is proud to honor USSA with a legacy award for its role in empowering tomorrow’s leaders at our annual Transforming America Awards & Gala.