Confronting Felony Disenfranchisement: Toward a Movement for Full Citizenship

A record 6.1 million people in the United States are barred from voting as a result of felony disenfranchisement laws. Policies in 48 states prohibit persons with felony convictions from voting for varying periods of supervision, including those who are incarcerated, on probation or parole, or (in 1...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mauer, Marc (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: Social justice
Year: 2018, Volume: 45, Issue: 1, Pages: 13-25
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
U.S. states > Politics & government
Prisoner suffrage
Citizenship > United States
Legal status of felons
Criminal law reform
Ex-convicts' suffrage
Description
Summary:A record 6.1 million people in the United States are barred from voting as a result of felony disenfranchisement laws. Policies in 48 states prohibit persons with felony convictions from voting for varying periods of supervision, including those who are incarcerated, on probation or parole, or (in 12 states) even after completion of supervision. Disenfranchisement poses challenging questions for the meaning of democracy, and it erects a barrier for successful reentry to the community after prison. A broad reform movement dating from the late 1990s has achieved policy reform in many states, but moving forward we should consider the model of many industrialized nations that view disenfranchisement as a fundamental aspect of citizenship that should not be taken away as a result of a criminal conviction.