Disenfranchisement News: Eric Holder calls for felony disenfranchisement reform
(From The Sentencing Project: Disenfranchisement News)
Speaking at the Georgetown University Law Center on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged states to repeal laws that ban formerly incarcerated individuals from voting. Citing studies linking voting right restoration with reduced recidivism rates, he criticized restrictive felony disenfranchisement provisions as counterproductive to effective reentry and called on Americans to “join us in bringing about the end of misguided policies that unjustly restrict what’s been called the ‘most basic right’ of American citizenship.†AG Holder also discussed the overtly racist origins of felony disenfranchisement in the United States, noting that in spite of important advances in civil rights, felony disenfranchisement remains widespread today.
“Whenever we tell citizens who have paid their debts and rejoined their communities that they are not entitled to take part in the democratic process, we fall short of the bedrock promise – of equal opportunity and equal justice – that has always served as the foundation of our legal system. So it’s time to renew our commitment – here and now – to the notion that the free exercise of our fundamental rights should never be subject to politics, or geography, or the lingering effects of flawed and unjust policies.â€
In response to AG Holder’s remarks, Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, stated:
“Attorney General Holder’s comments mark an important moment on the issue of felony disenfranchisement. A half century after passage of the Voting Rights Act nearly six million Americans are prohibited from voting due to antiquated laws that are anathema to a democratic society. The racial disparities that plague the criminal justice system are transformed into restrictions on voting that dilute the political power of communities of color. Just as the use of incarceration in the United States is extreme by the norms of industrialized nations, so too are our felony disenfranchisement policies.â€
Governors Respond to AG Holder’s Call for Reform
The AP reports that Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley responded to AG Holder’s remarks on Tuesday by stating that he’s “willing to look at a reasonable request†for felony disenfranchisement reform, saying he has “always believed someone should get their voting rights restored after serving their full sentences.â€
In contrast, a spokesperson for Florida Gov. Rick Scott stated, “Eric Holder’s speech from Washington, D.C., has no effect on Florida’s Constitution, which prescribes that individuals who commit felonies forfeit their right to vote.†AG Holder called out Florida for its particularly restrictive disenfranchisement policies more than once on Tuesday.
Editorial Highlights
The New York Times Editorial Board: “6 Million Americans Without a Voiceâ€
“Despite some progress, the United States remains an extreme outlier in allowing lifetime voting bans. Most industrialized nations allow all nonincarcerated people to vote, and many even allow voting in prison.
“Adding insult to injury, felon disenfranchisement laws — which are explicitly permitted by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution — are devoid of both logic and supporting evidence. They undermine the citizenship of people who have paid their debt to society, and possibly at a cost to public safety. As Mr. Holder pointed out, a study by a parole commission in Florida found that formerly incarcerated people banned from voting were three times as likely to re-offend as those who were allowed to vote.â€
Read the full piece here.
The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board: “Restore the Vote to Felonsâ€
“It isn’t just that black Americans are incarcerated at rates higher than the rest of the population. Holder also noted that felony disenfranchisement laws in some states have historical roots in efforts during Reconstruction to ‘target African Americans and diminish the electoral strength of newly freed populations.’
“Holder’s emphasis on the racial implications of these laws is entirely appropriate. It is consistent with other initiatives he has taken to ameliorate disparities in law enforcement, including his directive to federal prosecutors to refrain from charging low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that would lead to draconian mandatory minimum sentences. Black defendants have disproportionately been harmed by excesses in the war on drugs.â€
Read the full piece here.
James Causey, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “Attorney General Eric Holder is Right: Let Released Felons Voteâ€
“Once felons are released in Wisconsin, they can work and must pay taxes like everyone else but can’t vote until supervision is finished. This is backward. People can work and put in 40 hours a week but can’t cast a vote in their School Board election that could shape their child’s future?
“They can’t vote for the alderman or county supervisor of their choice. They can’t vote in the governor’s race or presidential race. It is overly harsh for those who may have committed a robbery 25 years ago when they were 17 years old to still be denied the franchise.â€
Read the full piece here.
