As a result of their Foundation grant funding, Brennan Center aided in the defense of a New York State law that was held to be constitutional that had ended the practice of “prison-based gerrymandering”. The law changed the way the State allocated people in terms of their voting for redistricting purposes by counting those in prison in their home communities rather than previously where they were incarcerated. The prior practice distorted demographics to diminish the voting strength of poor and minority communities by counting the votes of prisoners based upon their place of incarceration. Little v. LATFOR
Myrna Perez, Director of Voting Rights and Election Programs said, “The Barbara McDowell Foundation’s support was critical in ensuring that we had the resources needed to put forward the strongest arguments in defense of the law ending prison-based gerrymandering in New York State.”
Click here to see the original grant, including the six-month and year-end reports.