Prisoners of the Census

People advocating for the Census often cite its importance in the allocation of resources. At stake is how more than $400 billion will be spent. As it stands, inmates are not counted as part of the communities they come from, even if they are serving relatively short prison terms. In attesting to the failures of the prison system, the census is acknowledging that many of these inmates will return to the penal system; the census is actually just planning for the future. Unfortunately for the poor communities that the inmates come from, this only leads to less funding for public schools and other community programs.

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