Felony Disenfranchisement

Virginia: If at First Legislation Doesn't Succeed, Try, Try, Try, Try Again Sen. Yvonne Miller (D-Norfolk) introduced a constitutional amendment last month aimed at restoring voting rights to those convicted of nonviolent offenses, the Virginian-Pilot reported. "I introduce this every year because at some point somebody, it may not be me, will get it through," she said. "It's an issue of fairness because there are large numbers of people who have paid their debt to society and should be able to get their rights back." Since 2000, legislation has been introduced yet failed to pass. According to Virginia law, people with felony convictions are permanently barred from voting, but can apply for restoration after completing a sentence. Restoration applications can be made through a local Circuit Court or the Secretary of the Commonwealth - both of which ultimately lead to the governor's final decision. The Pilot featured a breakdown of the number of citizens whose rights were restored by Virginia governors. As of December 28, 2007, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine had restored 1,144 citizens' right to vote. Kentucky: Recurring Resistance to Re-enfranchising A Courier-Journal editorial states that disenfranchising citizens with criminal records "mocks the word 'justice.'" Nonetheless, proposals for reform are likely to encounter resistance from certain lawmakers and the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Some harbor racial motives for not wanting ex-felons to vote, but they don't have to admit that," the editorial states. "They can just talk about how undeserving criminals are. Others oppose restoration of voting rights on the assumption that, just because so many criminals come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, they likely will vote Democratic, but, publicly, they can posture against giving criminals this kind of 'break.'" Despite last year's failed attempt at restoration, legislators and others continue to push the constitutional amendment sponsored by Democratic Reps. Darryl Owens of Louisville and Jesse Crenshaw of Lexington that would restore voting rights to those convicted of many felonies upon completing their sentence, another Courier- Journal article stated. "When you finish your sentence, you should be free to re-enter society," Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project was quoted as saying. "But with laws like these, we still treat people as second-class citizens. If we want people to become law-abiding citizens, we need to get them engaged in constructive institutions in their community." For more coverage, see the Lexington Herald-Leader. Florida: State Needs Updated Database of Eligible Voters The third time was a charm for Michael Hargrett, 51, when it came to successfully registering to vote in Florida. Twice, he attempted to register to vote and was turned away; he was told his name remained on the state's felon list despite the fact that on one occasion he displayed a certificate of rights restoration. Only when he contacted the ACLU was he able to successfully register, the News- Press reported. "If I hadn't been involved and knew I had this right ... I would have just walked away thinking I can't vote," Hargrett said. As a result, civil rights activists last month sent letters to the state demanding it share its civil rights restoration database with counties, which currently do not have access to that information. They are also requesting that Florida's county election supervisors become proactive in helping qualified felons to register to vote. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- Email: zjennings@sentencingproject.org, Web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

National: "Abandon Felon Disenfranchisement Policies" University of Washington criminologist Robert Crutchfield argues that "In a nation that continues to have criminogenic inequalities (in education, housing, and employment) and, as a result, substantial disparity in criminal involvement and sanctioning, [felony disenfranchisement policies are] unfair and unjust." Writing in the journal, Criminology and Public Policy, (November 2007), Crutchfield examines the impact of drug and sentencing policies, concluding that "African Americans are disproportionately at risk for felony conviction and, consequently, for felon disenfranchisement." He further argues that since these policies have no positive benefits for individuals or communities, they are "anti-democratic and should be abolished." Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is seeking legislation that would require states to allow formerly incarcerated individuals to vote in federal elections upon release from prison. According to the Associated Press, Ellison introduced re-enfranchisement legislation earlier in his career while in the Minnesota Legislature. "Allowing felons to vote signals our value on redemption," he said. "We should believe in second chances. I can think of very few things that are more public-spirited than voting. I don't think there's any real good reason to deny you the right to vote once you're in, but, once you're out and you can vote - that would be a system that would make sense to me." Wisconsin: Audit Finds 1,500 Eligible Citizens Not Allowed to Vote in 2006 During an audit this week, the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau reported that of 35,000 formerly incarcerated individuals listed on an ineligible voter list, about 4.4 percent, or 1,537 citizens, likely would have been eligible to vote in elections held in 2006, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. "Those names shouldn't have been on the list. I can't say that they went to the polls and were turned away. We don't know that," state auditor Jan Mueller said. Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) who serves as audit committee co-chairman said the oversight "effectively disenfranchised" potential voters. Kentucky: Legislation in the Works for Disenfranchised Kentuckians A committee representing the State Government Task Force on Elections met this week to discuss re- enfranchisement legislation filed by Democratic Representative Darryl Owens for the upcoming General Assembly. Formerly incarcerated citizens testified in support of the legislation while Kentucky Senator Julian Carroll and Reps. Mike Cherry, Mike Harmon and Melvin Hensley offered their support. See more at Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information: e-mail: zjennings@sentencingproject.org, web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

New York: Hearings Scheduled to Consider Parolee Voting Rights The New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform has recommended that voting rights be restored to individuals on parole in an effort to improve reentry by way of civic participation. A series of public hearings to consider this and other issues are scheduled starting November 13. Currently, in New York those with felony convictions under parole supervision, as well as New York citizens with a felony conviction from another state, are banned from voting. A majority of the Commission believe that parolees' rights should be restored, according to a Commission reform proposal. Florida: New Restoration Policy Needs to be 'Reengineered' State officials are reporting that more individuals - 35,000 to be exact - have regained their civil rights after the state's executive clemency board in April restored the right to vote to those with non-violent records "during this period than during any other comparable period in recent memory," states a Tallahassee Democrat op-ed by Mark Schlakman. Nonetheless, there are close to a million more individuals for whom the state must decide eligibility for rights restoration - a process that could take years. Schlakman writes that Gov. Charlie Crist's Cabinet "must revisit and reengineer that process to achieve more comprehensive reform." He further said individuals with felony records cannot easily gain employment and suggested that the connection between rights restoration and ex-offender eligibility should be omitted. "There would be no compelling need to distinguish violent offenses from non-violent offenses to determine fitness to vote. Similarly, there would be no need to subject rights-restoration cases to multiple levels of scrutiny and cumbersome and costly investigations," Schlakman wrote. National: Disenfranchisement is an 'Artifact of Jim Crow' Arguing that there is no reasonable justification behind felon disenfranchisement, "Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy" (Oxford University Press 2006) by Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen is reviewed in the Ohio State University Journal of Criminal Law. The review, entitled "Felon Disenfranchisement and Democracy in the Late Jim Crow Era," is by University of Arizona Professor Gabriel J. Chin, and focuses on the history and policy behind disenfranchisement. Chin writes: "It might be said that felon disenfranchisement is a folkway rather than a policy; it enjoys remarkably wide acceptance in codes across the country without a well-articulated justification or rationale, particularly for the period after full completion of sentence." The Michigan Citizen published an opinion editorial on disenfranchisement and how penalties for a crime continue even after time is served. Calling disenfranchisement a way to suppress black votes, author Dr. Henrie Treadwell, associate director of Development at the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine and director of Community Voices, also commented on each state's varying disenfranchisement laws. "The state laws are so varied that from jurisdiction to jurisdiction there is no consistency on what convictions will trigger a loss of voting rights," the author wrote. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information: e-mail: zjennings@sentencingproject.org, web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

National: Social Justice Groups, Latino Congress Hope to Affect Disenfranchisement In the Summer 2007 issue of the New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement, Avi Brisman argues that environmental organizations "should consider criminal disenfranchisement to be an 'environmental' issue" and that activists "should work with grassroots social justice groups to bring about changes in state criminal disenfranchisement laws and policies." Brisman, an attorney and doctoral student in anthropology at Emory University, contends in "Toward a More Elaborate Typology of Environmental Values: Liberalizing Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws and Policies" that public participation plays an important role in shaping agendas and forming coalitions around environmental issues. The loss of the right to vote for more than five million Americans due to a felony conviction not only affects electoral outcomes, but has a profound impact on the direction of the environmental movement as the voices of potential supporters are lost. Brisman calls for environmental advocates to join together with those people working to reform felony disenfranchisement laws and recognize their common goal. A post-incarceration disenfranchisement resolution submitted by the New York University Law School's Brennan Center for Justice was unanimously passed by the National Latino Congreso during its annual convening in Los Angeles earlier this month. It endorsed the automatic restoration of voting rights to individuals with felony convictions upon their release from prison. The resolution also calls on legislators from the thirty-five states that continue to disenfranchise individuals post-incarceration to enact legislation that will automatically restore voting rights upon release from prison. The final decree of the resolution states, "the organizations represented by delegates of the 2007 National Latino Congreso pledge to support federal legislation that will automatically restore voting rights after release from prison on a national level." International: Still No Guaranteed Right to Vote - Using the Flawed U.S. as a Model While the Australian High Court struck down legislation passed last year stripping all inmates of voting rights, the Court upheld a 2004 law denying the vote to inmates who have been jailed for more than three years. The 4-2 decision restoring some inmates' right to vote in Roach v. Electoral Commissioner was made in August, but the ruling's impact became clear only after the court issued its reasons in late September. As a result, only 8,000 of the country's 20,000 sentenced prisoners can vote in the federal election scheduled later this year. "The judgments make clear there is no legal barrier to the disenfranchisement of significant sectors of the voting population, including 18-21 year- olds and anyone convicted of a crime deemed to be 'serious,'" the Westender reported. Solicitor- General David Bennett, representing the Howard government, suggested Australia could adopt many U.S. states' policy: permanently disenfranchising those imprisoned, even after their sentence had been served. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information: email: zjennings@sentencingproject.org, web: http://www.sentencingproject.org