Please read Policy Matters: The Right to Vote and answer the following: 1. What is the difference between the custodial and reintegration model? 2. Which do you prefer? Explain. 3. How does felony disenfranchisement impact a former felon's right to vote? 3. Once a felon serves his or her time should he/she be able to have the right? Explain.

 

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pinoo/Shutterstock.com The Right to Vote How Things Stand Policy Matters Maine and Vermont are the only two states that have no restrictions on allowing those convicted of felonies to vote. At the other end of the spectrum, in Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky, felons permanently lose their right to vote. The remaining states have a variety of rules regarding felon disenfranchisement, with some allowing probationers and parolees the right to vote and others requiring government action to reinstate this right to a limited class of offenders.105 As a Result... An estimated 6.1 million Americans, or 2.5 percent of the nation's voting population, are not able to participate in our democracy because of past criminal activities. In six states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia), more than 7 percent of the adult population is prohibited from voting.108 Because members of minority groups make up a disproportionate percentage of ex-convicts in this country, these groups are also disproportionately impacted by state disenfranchisement laws. According to The Sentencing Project, one of every thirteen African American adults is disenfranchised in the United States because of her or his criminal record. 107 Indeed, some historians believe that the nation's first laws barring felons from voting, passed following the Civil War (1861-1865), were expressly designed to remove African Americans from the political process. 108 In Alabama, a recent lawsuit alleges that the state law prohibiting a person from voting if she or he has been "convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude" is biased against minority residents. The suit claims that Alabama's vague law disenfranchises about 15 percent of the state's African American adult population, while similarly impacting only 5 percent of its white adult population. 109 Up for Debate "If you won't follow the law yourself, then you can't make the law for everyone else, which is what you do-directly or indirectly-when you vote."110-Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity. "Like the antiquated laws that excluded women, people of color, and the poor from the ballot box, felon disenfranchisement laws are an anti-democratic tool with a sordid history of discrimination."111-Janai S. Nelson, associate director counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock.com What's Your Take? Review the discussions in this chapter on "The Role of Prisons in Modern Society" and "The Consequences of America's High Rates of Incarceration" before answering the following questions. 1. Do you prefer the custodial model or the reintegration model when it comes to American prisons? How does your answer influence your opinion of state laws that disenfranchise felons? 2. In some states, disenfranchisement is based on the seriousness of the underlying conviction. For example, a felon convicted of attempted murder might be kept from voting, but a felon convicted of drug possession would be allowed to vote. Do you agree with this policy? If so, where would you "draw the line" between crimes that triggered disenfranchisement? Explain your answers. Digging Deeper... In 2016, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe attempted to restore the vote to thousands of ex-felons living in the state. Go online to learn more about these voting reform efforts. How successful was McAuliffe in expanding voting rights before the 2016 presidential election? What were the arguments made by those on each side of the issue? What role did race and party politics play in the controversy? Your answer should be at least three paragraphs long. PLEASE Voting CELL PHONE NOTING A Rights Chapter 13: Prisons and Jails 449 pinoo/Shutterstock.com The Right to Vote How Things Stand Policy Matters Maine and Vermont are the only two states that have no restrictions on allowing those convicted of felonies to vote. At the other end of the spectrum, in Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky, felons permanently lose their right to vote. The remaining states have a variety of rules regarding felon disenfranchisement, with some allowing probationers and parolees the right to vote and others requiring government action to reinstate this right to a limited class of offenders.105 As a Result... An estimated 6.1 million Americans, or 2.5 percent of the nation's voting population, are not able to participate in our democracy because of past criminal activities. In six states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia), more than 7 percent of the adult population is prohibited from voting.108 Because members of minority groups make up a disproportionate percentage of ex-convicts in this country, these groups are also disproportionately impacted by state disenfranchisement laws. According to The Sentencing Project, one of every thirteen African American adults is disenfranchised in the United States because of her or his criminal record. 107 Indeed, some historians believe that the nation's first laws barring felons from voting, passed following the Civil War (1861-1865), were expressly designed to remove African Americans from the political process. 108 In Alabama, a recent lawsuit alleges that the state law prohibiting a person from voting if she or he has been "convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude" is biased against minority residents. The suit claims that Alabama's vague law disenfranchises about 15 percent of the state's African American adult population, while similarly impacting only 5 percent of its white adult population. 109 Up for Debate "If you won't follow the law yourself, then you can't make the law for everyone else, which is what you do-directly or indirectly-when you vote."110-Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity. "Like the antiquated laws that excluded women, people of color, and the poor from the ballot box, felon disenfranchisement laws are an anti-democratic tool with a sordid history of discrimination."111-Janai S. Nelson, associate director counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock.com What's Your Take? Review the discussions in this chapter on "The Role of Prisons in Modern Society" and "The Consequences of America's High Rates of Incarceration" before answering the following questions. 1. Do you prefer the custodial model or the reintegration model when it comes to American prisons? How does your answer influence your opinion of state laws that disenfranchise felons? 2. In some states, disenfranchisement is based on the seriousness of the underlying conviction. For example, a felon convicted of attempted murder might be kept from voting, but a felon convicted of drug possession would be allowed to vote. Do you agree with this policy? If so, where would you "draw the line" between crimes that triggered disenfranchisement? Explain your answers. Digging Deeper... In 2016, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe attempted to restore the vote to thousands of ex-felons living in the state. Go online to learn more about these voting reform efforts. How successful was McAuliffe in expanding voting rights before the 2016 presidential election? What were the arguments made by those on each side of the issue? What role did race and party politics play in the controversy? Your answer should be at least three paragraphs long. PLEASE Voting CELL PHONE NOTING A Rights Chapter 13: Prisons and Jails 449