
Laura Dobbs
Host: Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Sponsor: The Selbin Family
Samantha advocated for the representational rights of individuals who are currently or were formerly incarcerated. Alongside the ACLU Voting Rights Project, local organizations, and national civil rights coalitions, Samantha submitted amicus briefs, met with representatives, created advocacy materials, and served as a cross-affiliate resource on ending prison gerrymandering and the unfair criminalization of voting.
The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with 2.3 million people—the aggregate population of 15 states—confined. The vast majority of these individuals are people of color from low socioeconomic backgrounds who are stripped of their voting rights, sometimes permanently. In most states, through a process called “prison gerrymandering,” these individuals are counted as “residents” of the heavily white, rural areas where corrections facilities tend to be located. By misallocating prison populations in this way, redistricting bodies across the nation unfairly inflate the political power of districts housing prisons while diluting the representational strength of places that people who are incarcerated call home. Notably, because redistricting happens only once per decade, individuals who are incarcerated are counted as “residents” of their prison cells long after they complete their sentences. The injustice of this misallocation of voting strength along racial lines has led some legal scholars to dub prison gerrymandering the modern-day Three-Fifths Compromise.
During the two-year Fellowship, Samantha:
Following this fellowship, Samantha will clerk for Hon. Harry T. Edwards on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. She looks forward to continuing the fight for civil rights and social justice.
The Governor of Louisiana Must Veto the Proposed Redistricting Maps
Dismantling Prison Gerrymandering & Removing Barriers to Fair Representation
Amicus Brief - Adkins V. Virginia Redistricting Commission
New Census Bureau Data Offers a Chance to Dismantle Prison Gerrymandering
Redistricting: Advocates want prisoners counted where they’re from, not incarcerated
Five NYU Law graduates named 2020 Equal Justice Works Fellows
Prison gerrymandering dilutes the voting power of communities of color, entrenches systemic inequality, and weakens our democracy. The time to end that practice is now.
Sam Tañafranca Osaki /
2020 Equal Justice Works Fellow
Host: Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Sponsor: The Selbin Family
Host: Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Sponsor: Greenberg Traurig, LLP, The Ottinger Family Foundation
Host: Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Sponsor: Anonymous
Host: Advancement Project
Sponsor: Anonymous