As Bernie Sanders Says 'No Apologies' for His Position, 70+ Groups Back Call [View all]

[Uncle Joe]

for Prisoner Voting Rights

(snip)

America, too, can honor every citizen’s right to vote and still flourish. Maine, Vermont, and Puerto Rico treat the right to vote as a bedrock democratic principle for all citizens, including those in prison.Advocates, people in prison, and even corrections officials say voting ​allows incarcerated people to maintain a sense of connection to the community​ and society at large, which in turn helps prepare them for life after prison. Protecting every American’s right to vote isn’t only popular, it’s also endorsed by those with the most intimate knowledge of our criminal legal system.

This practice has deep-seated roots in our Jim Crow past, and its modern persistence echoes historical pain. Felony disenfranchisement laws gained popularity in the post-Reconstruction era: shortly after black men gained the right to vote, disenfranchisement laws were codified to systematically strip away black votes. States where African Americans made up a greater portion of the prison population were significantly more likely​ to adopt felony disenfranchisement. As these laws spread, states began ​creating lists of crimes​ they believed were most likely to impact black voters. Felony disenfranchisement became a tool to limit the political power of black communities and individuals to elect representatives to advocate for their interests.

Even today, communities of color are disenfranchised at much higher rates than white voters. ​In the 2016election​, 7.4 percent of all African American adults were disenfranchised as a result of a felony conviction, a rate four times higher than the rest of the population. In Kentucky, a ​full quarter of the black electorate​ cannot vote today due to felony disenfranchisement. Latinx communities are also disenfranchised at ​rates greater than​ the general population. These racial disparities turn whole communities into second-class citizens, undermining faith in the fairness of our government, our elected officials, and the notion that all people are treated equally under the law.

We need a President who will stand up for the right of all Americans to vote. We thus ask each of you to publicly commit to ending felony disenfranchisement and to call for the restoration of voting rights for all citizens, regardless of their criminal history.

(snip)

Sincerely,

ABO Comix
Abolitionist Law Center
American Civil Liberties Union
American Homeless Society
Anthony Rella PLLC
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project
Brooklyn Defender Services
Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU School of Law
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
Chicago Animal Save
Chicago Community Bond Fund
Chicago Votes Action Fund
Citizen Action of New York
Color Of Change
Common Cause
DACC (Direct Action Coordinating Committee) at Amherst College
Data For Progress
Demos
Disability Advocates for Rights and Transition
Drug Policy Alliance
DSA MKE
Emancipation Initiative
Fierce Allies
Food Empowerment Project
For the People - Saint Louis
Franciscan Action Network
GAPIMNY—Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders
Green Party of Allegheny County
Greenpeace USA
Harvard Law School National Lawyers Guild
Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign
Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities - HEARD
Illinois Coalition Against Torture
Indivisible Midlands (SC2)
JustLeadershipUSA
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Let's Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee
LinkUp
Millions For Prisoners New Mexico
National Lawyers Guild
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
North Carolina Green Party
North NJ Democratic Socialists of America
Northwest Detroiters For Social Justice
Nu View Consulting
Pitt Prison Outreach
Popular Resistance
Princeton Students for Prison Education and Reform
Prison Policy Initiative
Project NIA
Quixote Center
Racial Justice Action Center
Real Justice PAC
Rid Racism Milwaukee
Right2Vote Campaign
San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper
Seattle Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
Showing Up for Racial Justice
Southern Center for Human Rights
Southern Poverty Law Center
Students Against Mass Incarceration
Students for Prison Education and Reform
The Joseph Spencer Pratt Justice Reform Advocacy Group
The Justice Collaborative
The North Star
The Queer Palestinian Empowerment Network
UMass Prison Abolition Collective
Valley Justice Coalition
WESPAC Foundation, Inc
WNY Peace Center
Worth Rises
Yoga For Peace, Justice, Harmony With The Planet

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/30/bernie-sanders-says-no-apologies-his-position-70-rights-groups-back-call-prisoner#