Last May, the Justice Department struck down a voter verification procedure that was discovered to be error-prone and discriminatory. Around... Read more
In light of a Washington ruling that struck down the state voting rights restoration procedure for felons as “racially discriminatory,” advocates continue to push Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to use his last days of executive power to overturn the state’s “relic of Virginia's Jim Crow era.” Read more
Some good news came out of Washington Tuesday. Sound unlikely? That’s because the news comes from the state of Washington, where the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals essentially struck down the state’s felon disenfranchisement law because it’s racially discriminatory and violates the federal Voting Rights Act. Read more
There is a sad truth in America – millions of hard-working and tax-paying citizens are denied one of the most fundamental rights – the right to vote. Felony disenfranchisement laws affect a total of 5.3 million Americans, four million of whom are out of prison and currently living and working in their communities. Aiming to shed light on this terrible injustice, the American Bar Association, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Drug Policy Alliance, and Sentencing Project recently held a Congressional briefing to discuss the Democracy Restoration Act (S.1516/H.R.3335). The groups voiced their concerns with felony disenfranchisement and their reasons for supporting the Democracy Restoration Act. Read more
Last month, we reported that citizens are becoming more sympathetic to voting rights restoration as they realize disenfranchisement of released felons does not just unnecessarily punish the ex-offender, but also the voice of their communities. This news resonated recently in the states of Wisconsin and Virginia – one of which has hopes of restoring the rights of some 40,000 ex-offenders while the other is criticized for “lagging” in restoration of civil rights. Read more
A New York Times story this week reported that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is planning to return the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to its historical mission: protecting the civil rights of Americans. According to the article, the new attorney general is committed to "a revival of high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies...where statistics show that minorities fare disproportionately poorly," including housing, employment, lending practices, and voting rights. Read more
A Georgia voter list maintenance procedure that the Department of Justice shut down as “discriminatory” in May is being brought... Read more
The message that democracy works best when all citizens participate – including those reintegrating into society after serving time for felony convictions - is finally being heard by the public, the media, and the U.S. Congress. Whether the message will affect the change needed to enfranchise the millions of Americans who currently cannot represent their communities in the democratic process, it is encouraging to find more citizens recognize the value in voting rights restoration and its impact on rehabilitation. Read more