Opinion

Count ‘em where they live

Every 10 years, as the Census sets about tallying America’s population, New York City legislators howl about being “short-changed” on prison inmates.

And every 10 years, they’re wrong.

This time around, state Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Man.) and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Bklyn.) have introduced a bill to require convicts to be listed in the places where they last lived — before heading up the river.

Counting them where they’re imprisoned — the current practice — unfairly advantages upstate counties when it comes to legislative redistricting and resource allocation, the city folk contend.

Which is errant nonsense.

The Census is meant to count the number of people living in each state — with “living” being the operative word.

Inmates currently “live” in the facilities in which they are incarcerated, and that’s where they should be counted — not where they might be living, if only they had led law-abiding lives.

Many have called prison home for decades — and will for decades more. Indeed, for far too many, Attica, Sing Sing or Green Haven is the only long-term home they’ve known.

Moreover, prisoners use the services — water, electricity, sewage — of the areas where they “reside,” not their old homes.

Once they’re released, that’ll change.

But as long as they remain behind bars, that’s where they should be counted.