Noted.

EMPIRE STATE MATH: On July 9, after five weeks of political paralysis caused by the momentary defection of Democrats Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada to the GOP side, the New York State Senate finally got its act together. But the crisis raises serious questions about the awkward balance of power in Albany and the frail nature of the Democratic majority (32-30) in the Senate.

According to the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), which studies how prison populations affect state and local politics nationwide, New York is a grand perpetrator of prison-based gerrymandering. Despite the fact that the state Constitution explicitly declares that a person's residence doesn't change while in prison, thirteen upstate counties continue to ignore that, claiming inmates as constituents even though they can't vote in those upstate counties. Without these so-called constituents, seven districts wouldn't be drawn the way they are now. PPI argues that the disparity in population creates an extra Senate seat for upstate New Yorkers while disenfranchising downstaters.

Unfortunately, while New York may be one of the most exceptional examples of prison-based gerrymandering, it is not alone. PPI has found similar abuses in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin and Texas, among others.

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