Social Justice
Voting Rights : A Lifetime Sentence For Felons
Do you believe ex-felons should have their voting rights restored once they’ve served their time and parole?
Do you believe persons with felony convictions should have their voting rights restored once they’ve served their time and parole?
According to a study released this month by the Sentencing Project, about 7.7 percent of the African American voting-age population is disenfranchised, compared with 1.8 percent of the non-African American population.
In Virginia, Kentucky and Florida, felon disenfranchisement affects a staggering one in five African Americans.
The underlying question is, why have states disenfranchised persons with a felony who’ve served their sentences, paid their dues and rejoined their communities with hardening voting rights?