Felony disenfranchisement
Encyclopedia
Felony disenfranchisement is the term used to describe the practice of prohibiting people from voting
(known as disenfranchisement) based on the fact that they have been convicted of a felony
or other criminal offence. It therefore restricts and conflicts with principles of universal suffrage
; the legitimacy of this is a matter of some controversy.
", whereby these persons would lose all rights and claim to property
. Most medieval common law
jurisdictions developed some form of exclusion from the democratic process, ranging from execution on sight
to rejection from community processes.
or state legislature. However, in Kentucky, a felon's rights can now be restored after the completion of a restoration process to regain civil rights. In 2007, Florida
moved to restore voting rights to convicted felons. In July 2005, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack
issued an executive order restoring the right to vote for all persons who have completed supervision. On October 31, 2005, Iowa's Supreme Court upheld mass re-enfranchisement of ex-convicts. Nine other states disenfranchise ex-felons for various lengths of time following the completion of their probation or parole. Except Maine and Vermont, every state prohibits felons from voting while in prison.
Upon the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment
, giving non-whites the right to vote, Southern States began to use seemingly neutral voting qualifications – e.g. literacy
tests, property requirements, grandfather clause
s, tests for good moral character
and criminal disenfranchisement – to deny the vote to black people
but also undesirable (primarily poor) whites. While disenfranchisement laws had existed long before these practices began, a number of Southern States tailored these laws to maximize their impacts on African-Americans. One delegate to the Virginia convention of 1906 went on record at the time as saying: "This plan will eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this state in less than five years."
Unlike most other laws that burden the right of citizens to vote based on some form of social status, felony disenfranchisement laws have been held to be constitutional.
In Richardson v. Ramirez
, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of felon disenfranchisement statutes, finding that the practice did not deny equal protection to disenfranchised voters. The Court looked to Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, which proclaims that States which deny the vote to male citizens, except on the basis of "participation of rebellion, or other crime", will suffer a reduction in representation. Based on this language, the Court found that this amounted to an "affirmative sanction" of the practice of felon disenfranchisement, and the 14th Amendment could not prohibit in one section that which is expressly authorized in another. However, many critics argue that Section 2 of the 14th Amendment merely allows but does not represent an endorsement of felon disenfranchisement statutes as constitutional in light of the equal protection clause; but is limited only to the issue of reduced representation. The Court did rule however in Hunter v. Underwood
471 U.S. 222, 232 (1985) that a state's felony disenfranchisement provision will violate Equal Protection if it can be demonstrated that the provision, as enacted, had "both [an] impermissible racial motivation and racially discriminatory impact." A felony disenfranchisement law, which on its face is indiscriminate in nature, cannot be invalidated by the Supreme Court unless its enforcement is proven to discriminate and it was enacted with racially discriminate animus
.
Currently, over 5.3 million people in the USA are denied the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement.
, prohibitions from voting are codified in section 3 and 3A of the Representation of the People Act 1983
. Excluded are incarcerated criminals (including those sentenced by courts martial, those unlawfully at large from such sentences, and those committed to psychiatric institutions as a result of legal process). Civil prisoners sentenced (for non-payment of fines, or contempt of court
, for example), and those on remand unsentenced retain the right to vote. The Act does not apply to elections to the European Parliament
. Following Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) (2006), in which the European Court of Human Rights
ruled such a ban to be disproportionate, the policy was reviewed by the UK government. In 2005 the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
, Lord Thoroton
, stated that it may result in some prisoners being able to vote, and the review was still under way in 2010 following an "unprecedented warning" from the Council of Europe
. The UK government position was then that
only persons convicted of electoral fraud
or corruption
lose the vote for up to several years after release from prison. Several European countries, e.g. France
, Germany
and the Netherlands
, permit disenfranchisment by special court order, such as in the case of Muhammad Bouyeri.
In both the People's Republic of China
and the Republic of China
, the abrogation of political rights is a form of punishment used in sentencing, available only for some crimes or along with a sentence of death or imprisonment for life. Rights which are suspended in such a sentence include the right to vote, to take public office, as well as the rights to political expression, assembly, association and protest.
Many countries allow inmates to vote. Examples are Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden and Zimbabwe. In Germany
the law even calls on prisons to encourage prisoners to vote. Only those convicted of electoral fraud
and crimes undermining the "democratic order", such as treason
are barred from voting, while in prison. In Australia
, where compulsory voting
is practised, the High Court of Australia
in 2007 found that the Constitution
enshrined a limited right to vote, which meant that citizens serving relatively short prison sentences cannot be barred from voting.
On 8 December 2008, Leung Kwok Hung (Long Hair), member of Hong Kong's popularly-elected Legislative Council
(LegCo), and two prison inmates, successfully challenged disfranchisement provisions in the LegCo electoral laws. The court found blanket disfranchisement of prisoners against Article 26 of the Basic Law and Article 21 of the Bill of Rights, and denying persons in custody access to polling stations against the law. The government introduced a bill to repeal the provisions disfranchising persons convicted of crimes (even those against the electoral system) as well as similar ones found in other electoral laws, and made arrangements for polling stations to be set up at detention centres and prisons. LegCo passed the bill, taking effect from 31 October 2009, even though no major elections will be held until mid 2011.
s, and that persons who commit felonies have 'broken' the social contract
, and have thereby given up their right to participate in a civil society. Proponents may view disenfranchisement as simply being another form of punishment for the crime committed, or a deterrent to future crime. Some think debates about "felony disenfranchisement" should also include entry into juror pools and reinstated rights to own firearms, much less popular notions.
to sentence someone to a lifelong prohibition from voting based on a single felony conviction.
They point to instances of teenagers being convicted of relatively minor crimes which can still be classified as felonies, like trespassing on a construction site or stealing a stop sign
, and argue that the law should not operate to deprive them of fundamental rights that they might not appreciate until many years later. Some contend that the right to vote is such a fundamental protection against potential government tyranny that it should never be deprived, no matter the circumstances. It has also been argued that felony disenfranchisement in some states, especially Florida in the 2000 Presidential election
, de facto amounts to racism. Research by sociologists Jeff Manza and Chris Uggen shows the impact of disenfranchisement on the outcome of elections. Their research also suggests that persons involved in the criminal justice system who vote may have lower rates of recidivism.
Chap. 266: Sec. 127, a prosecution for malicious destruction of property can result in a felony conviction, if the dollar amount of damage exceeds $250. Some people would argue that $250 is excessively low and since this dollar amount has not risen for many years, even damaging another's radio or cell phone could result in losing one's right to vote. If the dollar thresholds are not increased by law (or indexed to Inflation), a conviction for what is effectively very little money, could result in losing one's right to vote
In losing one's right to vote as of being a felon, Massachusetts joined 47 other states that bar prison imates fron voting. Only two states Maine and Vermont, permits inmates to vote while serving felony prison terms.Three inmates an African-American, an Hispanic-American and a Caucasion-American, filed a lawsuit claming the action violated the Voting Rights Act. They also claimed the measure amounted to illegal extra punishment in volation of the U.S.Constitution prohibition on ex post facto laws. A federal judge threw out the ex post facto claim, but ruled that the voting rights challenge should proceed to trial. A three-judge panel of the first U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston disagreed and threw out the entire lawsuit. In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the inmates argued that federal appeals courts are split on the issue of whether the Voting Rights Act supports lawsuits challenging felon disenfranshisement measures.
Voting
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
(known as disenfranchisement) based on the fact that they have been convicted of a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
or other criminal offence. It therefore restricts and conflicts with principles of universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
; the legitimacy of this is a matter of some controversy.
History
The roots of felony disenfranchisement laws can be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman traditions. Disenfranchisement was commonly imposed on individuals convicted of "infamous" crimes as part of their "civil deathCivil death
Civil death is a term that refers to the loss of all or almost all civil rights by a person due to a conviction for a felony or due to an act by the government of a country that results in the loss of civil rights...
", whereby these persons would lose all rights and claim to property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
. Most medieval common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
jurisdictions developed some form of exclusion from the democratic process, ranging from execution on sight
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
to rejection from community processes.
United States
As of 2011, only two states, Kentucky and Virginia, continue to impose a life-long denial of the right to vote to all citizens with a felony record, absent some extraordinary intervention by the GovernorGovernor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
or state legislature. However, in Kentucky, a felon's rights can now be restored after the completion of a restoration process to regain civil rights. In 2007, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
moved to restore voting rights to convicted felons. In July 2005, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack
Tom Vilsack
Thomas James "Tom" Vilsack is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and presently the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served as the 40th Governor of the state of Iowa. He was first elected in 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002...
issued an executive order restoring the right to vote for all persons who have completed supervision. On October 31, 2005, Iowa's Supreme Court upheld mass re-enfranchisement of ex-convicts. Nine other states disenfranchise ex-felons for various lengths of time following the completion of their probation or parole. Except Maine and Vermont, every state prohibits felons from voting while in prison.
Upon the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"...
, giving non-whites the right to vote, Southern States began to use seemingly neutral voting qualifications – e.g. literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
tests, property requirements, grandfather clause
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
s, tests for good moral character
Good moral character
Good moral character is a defined legal concept in United States law that details requirements for consideration for certain benefits or positions. The term is chiefly used by the federal government in immigration law, but it can also be a requirement for a particular position of employment or...
and criminal disenfranchisement – to deny the vote to black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
but also undesirable (primarily poor) whites. While disenfranchisement laws had existed long before these practices began, a number of Southern States tailored these laws to maximize their impacts on African-Americans. One delegate to the Virginia convention of 1906 went on record at the time as saying: "This plan will eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this state in less than five years."
Unlike most other laws that burden the right of citizens to vote based on some form of social status, felony disenfranchisement laws have been held to be constitutional.
In Richardson v. Ramirez
Richardson v. Ramirez
Richardson v. Ramirez, 418 U.S. 24 , held that convicted felons could be barred from voting without violating the Fourteenth Amendment.-Facts:...
, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of felon disenfranchisement statutes, finding that the practice did not deny equal protection to disenfranchised voters. The Court looked to Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
, which proclaims that States which deny the vote to male citizens, except on the basis of "participation of rebellion, or other crime", will suffer a reduction in representation. Based on this language, the Court found that this amounted to an "affirmative sanction" of the practice of felon disenfranchisement, and the 14th Amendment could not prohibit in one section that which is expressly authorized in another. However, many critics argue that Section 2 of the 14th Amendment merely allows but does not represent an endorsement of felon disenfranchisement statutes as constitutional in light of the equal protection clause; but is limited only to the issue of reduced representation. The Court did rule however in Hunter v. Underwood
Hunter v. Underwood
Hunter v. Underwood, 471 U.S. 222 , was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court that invalidated the felony disenfranchisement provision of § 182 of the Alabama Constitution as a violation of equal protection.-Factual background:...
471 U.S. 222, 232 (1985) that a state's felony disenfranchisement provision will violate Equal Protection if it can be demonstrated that the provision, as enacted, had "both [an] impermissible racial motivation and racially discriminatory impact." A felony disenfranchisement law, which on its face is indiscriminate in nature, cannot be invalidated by the Supreme Court unless its enforcement is proven to discriminate and it was enacted with racially discriminate animus
Animus
-Psychology :* Anima and animus, Jungian concepts* The ancient Roman concept of animus or soul-Music:*Animus , a Philadelphia, PA based Eastern Mediterranean World Fusion music group...
.
Currently, over 5.3 million people in the USA are denied the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement.
United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, prohibitions from voting are codified in section 3 and 3A of the Representation of the People Act 1983
Representation of the People Act 1983
The Representation of the People Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways:* Amended the Representation of the People Act 1969....
. Excluded are incarcerated criminals (including those sentenced by courts martial, those unlawfully at large from such sentences, and those committed to psychiatric institutions as a result of legal process). Civil prisoners sentenced (for non-payment of fines, or contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
, for example), and those on remand unsentenced retain the right to vote. The Act does not apply to elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. Following Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) (2006), in which the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
ruled such a ban to be disproportionate, the policy was reviewed by the UK government. In 2005 the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
The Secretary of State for Justice is a senior position in the cabinet of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2007 replacing the abolished Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, which was originally intended to fulfil those functions of the office of Lord Chancellor which related to the...
, Lord Thoroton
Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton
Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, PC is a British Labour politician, who became the Lord Chancellor and the first Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in 2003...
, stated that it may result in some prisoners being able to vote, and the review was still under way in 2010 following an "unprecedented warning" from the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
. The UK government position was then that
Republic of Ireland
Following the Hirst case, convicted prisoners had the right to vote in law but because the prison authorities did not facilitate the means to exercise this right it was unenforceable by the prisoners. In Hirst the ECHR ruled that Member States are required under Article 3 of the First Protocol to be proactive as opposed to merely refraining from facilitating the franchise to serving prisoners. To comply with the judgment the Republic of Ireland passed a statute allowing convicted prisoners to have postal votes.Other countries
Most democracies give ex-offenders the same voting rights as other citizens. In New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
only persons convicted of electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
or corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
lose the vote for up to several years after release from prison. Several European countries, e.g. France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, permit disenfranchisment by special court order, such as in the case of Muhammad Bouyeri.
In both the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
and the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, the abrogation of political rights is a form of punishment used in sentencing, available only for some crimes or along with a sentence of death or imprisonment for life. Rights which are suspended in such a sentence include the right to vote, to take public office, as well as the rights to political expression, assembly, association and protest.
Many countries allow inmates to vote. Examples are Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden and Zimbabwe. In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
the law even calls on prisons to encourage prisoners to vote. Only those convicted of electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
and crimes undermining the "democratic order", such as treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
are barred from voting, while in prison. In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where compulsory voting
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...
is practised, the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
in 2007 found that the Constitution
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
enshrined a limited right to vote, which meant that citizens serving relatively short prison sentences cannot be barred from voting.
On 8 December 2008, Leung Kwok Hung (Long Hair), member of Hong Kong's popularly-elected Legislative Council
Legislative Council
A Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.A Member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.- Unicameral legislatures :...
(LegCo), and two prison inmates, successfully challenged disfranchisement provisions in the LegCo electoral laws. The court found blanket disfranchisement of prisoners against Article 26 of the Basic Law and Article 21 of the Bill of Rights, and denying persons in custody access to polling stations against the law. The government introduced a bill to repeal the provisions disfranchising persons convicted of crimes (even those against the electoral system) as well as similar ones found in other electoral laws, and made arrangements for polling stations to be set up at detention centres and prisons. LegCo passed the bill, taking effect from 31 October 2009, even though no major elections will be held until mid 2011.
For
Proponents of felony disenfranchisement contend that felonies are, by definition, serious crimeCrime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
s, and that persons who commit felonies have 'broken' the social contract
Social contract
The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept...
, and have thereby given up their right to participate in a civil society. Proponents may view disenfranchisement as simply being another form of punishment for the crime committed, or a deterrent to future crime. Some think debates about "felony disenfranchisement" should also include entry into juror pools and reinstated rights to own firearms, much less popular notions.
Against
Opponents point to empirical evidence that the relatively small proportion of ex-felons who participate in the political process by voting are less likely to return to crime. They note that felony disenfranchisement is often accompanied by other deprivations of civil rights, such as the ability to work in certain professions, which make it harder for former convicts to lead productive lives. Some (An opponent) also contend that it can be classified as a cruel and unusual punishment, making it inappropriate in some jurisdictions such as the United States, where it would be a violation of the Eighth AmendmentEighth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that this amendment's Cruel and Unusual...
to sentence someone to a lifelong prohibition from voting based on a single felony conviction.
They point to instances of teenagers being convicted of relatively minor crimes which can still be classified as felonies, like trespassing on a construction site or stealing a stop sign
Stop sign
A Stop sign is a traffic sign to notify drivers that they must stop before proceeding.-Specifications:The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals proposed standard stop sign diameters of 0.6, 0.9 or 1.2 metres. UK and New Zealand stop signs are 750, 900 or 1200 mm, according to sign...
, and argue that the law should not operate to deprive them of fundamental rights that they might not appreciate until many years later. Some contend that the right to vote is such a fundamental protection against potential government tyranny that it should never be deprived, no matter the circumstances. It has also been argued that felony disenfranchisement in some states, especially Florida in the 2000 Presidential election
2000 presidential election
The 2000 presidential election may refer to:* Croatian presidential elections, 2000* Federal Republic of Yugoslavia presidential election, 2000* Fijian presidential election, 2000* Ghanaian presidential election, 2000* Polish presidential election, 2000...
, de facto amounts to racism. Research by sociologists Jeff Manza and Chris Uggen shows the impact of disenfranchisement on the outcome of elections. Their research also suggests that persons involved in the criminal justice system who vote may have lower rates of recidivism.
Felony conviction thresholds affected by inflation
One aspect of this issue which bears upon the above arguments is the fact that various property crimes can have dollar amount thresholds, which, if exceeded, turn a misdemeanor into a felony. For example, in Massachusetts under penalties specified in MGLGeneral Laws of Massachusetts
Massachusetts General Laws, also known as the General Laws of Massachusetts, is a codification of many of the statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth's laws are promulgated by an elected bicameral legislative body, the Massachusetts General Court...
Chap. 266: Sec. 127, a prosecution for malicious destruction of property can result in a felony conviction, if the dollar amount of damage exceeds $250. Some people would argue that $250 is excessively low and since this dollar amount has not risen for many years, even damaging another's radio or cell phone could result in losing one's right to vote. If the dollar thresholds are not increased by law (or indexed to Inflation), a conviction for what is effectively very little money, could result in losing one's right to vote
In losing one's right to vote as of being a felon, Massachusetts joined 47 other states that bar prison imates fron voting. Only two states Maine and Vermont, permits inmates to vote while serving felony prison terms.Three inmates an African-American, an Hispanic-American and a Caucasion-American, filed a lawsuit claming the action violated the Voting Rights Act. They also claimed the measure amounted to illegal extra punishment in volation of the U.S.Constitution prohibition on ex post facto laws. A federal judge threw out the ex post facto claim, but ruled that the voting rights challenge should proceed to trial. A three-judge panel of the first U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston disagreed and threw out the entire lawsuit. In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the inmates argued that federal appeals courts are split on the issue of whether the Voting Rights Act supports lawsuits challenging felon disenfranshisement measures.
See also
- DisfranchisementDisfranchisementDisfranchisement is the revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people, or rendering a person's vote less effective, or ineffective...
- Hirst v. the United Kingdom (No. 2)
- Universal suffrageUniversal suffrageUniversal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
- Loss of rights due to felony convictionLoss of rights due to felony convictionLoss of rights due to felony conviction takes many forms. In the United States this includes disenfranchisement. exclusion from Jury duty, and loss of the right to possess firearms.-Disenfranchisement:...
External links
- The Sentencing Project page on Felony Disenfranchisement
- Gabriel J. ChinGabriel J. ChinGabriel Jack Chin is an author, legal scholar, and Professor at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Chin is the Chester H. Smith Professor of Law and co-director of the Program in Criminal Law and Policy at the James E. Rogers College of Law, and Professor at the School of...
, Reconstruction, Felon Disenfranchisement and the Right to Vote: Did the Fifteenth Amendment Repeal Section 2 of the Fourteenth?, 92 Georgetown Law Journal 259 (2004)