March 26, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "Removing prison inmates from population counts, making districts more
compact and simple in shape and reducing the number of state
legislators in each district were among public suggestions on how the
Indiana General Assembly should redraw legislative and congressional
maps in Indiana," according to the Terre Haute Tribune-Star. The newspaper reports on a hearing yesterday held by Republican lawmakers seeking public input on how redistricting will be done.
"Kelsey Kauffman, adjunct professor of university studies at DePauw University, recommended legislators not count state or federal prison inmates in population counts when establishing voting districts," notes the article.
"That
means the boundaries of a district would have to expand out to take a
like number of residents' in a district, according to Kauffman (pictured below).
Howard Greninger writes, 
"DePauw
University student Shreeya Neupane said House District 9, in LaPorte
County, has 8 percent of its district’s population from inmates, the
most in the state. House District 46 in Vigo County has 5 percent of
its district population from inmates, while House District 45 in
Sullivan County has 3 percent of its population counted with inmates,
and Senate District 39, in Sullivan County, has 4 percent."
The story adds, "DePauw student Stephen Shapiro said not counting inmates is politically
neutral and constitutionally sound because inmates are 'disenfranchised, their residency is non-voluntary, are not
participants in the local economy and are not beneficiaries of local
government decisions.'"
Access the full summary at the Tribune-Star's website.
Another story detailing the activism of DePauw students can be found here.