{"id":11766,"date":"2019-05-01T20:55:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T03:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=11766"},"modified":"2019-05-01T20:55:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T03:55:30","slug":"as-bernie-sanders-says-no-apologies-for-his-position-70-groups-back-call-for-prisoner-voting-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2019\/05\/01\/as-bernie-sanders-says-no-apologies-for-his-position-70-groups-back-call-for-prisoner-voting-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"As Bernie Sanders Says ‘No Apologies’ for His Position, 70+ Groups Back Call for Prisoner Voting Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 30, 2019 by Common Dreams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advocacy organizations called on all 2020 presidential candidates to “publicly commit to ending felony disenfranchisement”<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Jake Johnson, staff writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Voting rights advocates March in Manhattan, New York. (Photo:\u00a0<\/em>Michael Fleshman<\/em><\/a>\/Flickr\/cc)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday unequivocally doubled down<\/a> on his position that prisoners should have the right to vote\u2014as dozens of civil rights groups urged<\/a> every other 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to adopt the same stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At a time when voting suppression is taking place all across the country, we must make it clear that casting a ballot for American citizens is not a privilege. It is a right.”\u00a0
\u2014Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an\u00a0op-ed<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0USA\u00a0Today<\/em>, the Vermont senator noted that prisoner disenfranchisement disproportionately harms poor people of color and is rooted in the “legacy of slavery and continuing racist attitudes post-Jim Crow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Indeed, our present-day crisis of mass incarceration has become a tool of voter suppression,” Sanders wrote. “Today, over 4.5 million Americans… have lost their right to vote because they have served time in jail or prison for a felony conviction.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanders has faced continued backlash from right-wing media outlets, <\/a>Republican lawmakers<\/a>, and fellow Democratic presidential candidates<\/a> since he expressed support for allowing prisoners to vote in a CNN<\/em> town hall<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in his op-ed Tuesday, the senator from Vermont\u2014a state that allows inmates to vote from prison<\/a>\u2014said he makes “no apologies for that position” because “voting rights for all citizens is a basic principle of democracy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The point here is simple,” wrote Sanders. “At a time when voting suppression is taking place all across the country, we must make it clear that casting a ballot for American citizens is not a privilege. It is a right. If you’re an American citizen who is 18 years or older you must be able to vote, whether you’re in jail or not.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Every 2020 presidential candidate should join Sanders in taking a stand for the right of prisoners and felons to vote, a coalition of more than 70 rights groups including the ACLU, the Drug Policy Alliance, and Color of Change said in an open letter on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanders is the only 2020 contender who has expressed support for allowing prisoners to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting the “growing movement against felony disenfranchisement” nationwide\u2014such as in Florida, where voters last year passed<\/a> a constitutional amendment to restore the voting rights of 1.4 million people with past felony convictions\u2014the advocacy groups asked: “Why disenfranchise people in prison to begin with? Why not let them continue to vote while they are incarcerated?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ensuring that \u200ball Americans can vote is not just a vital affirmation of our national character, but an important policy to enhance public safety and reduce recidivism,” the groups wrote. “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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full letter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Presidential Candidates:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When \u200bBrianna Ross\u200b was 19, she was convicted of a felony for \u200bstealing diapers\u200b for her son. At her sentencing hearing, a judge told Ross that she’d face a lifelong punishment for her mistake: She would never be allowed to vote. Ross said she was made to feel “empty and unimportant” for decades, as she was forced to sit on the sidelines of democracy. But her fortune finally changed in 2016, when Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe restored voting rights to Ross and more than 150,000 formerly incarcerated Virginians. A year later, at age 53, Ross participated in her first election, where she says she finally had the opportunity to say, “I count.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The right to vote is a fundamental component of American citizenship. Yet millions of Americans have been stripped of this right and made to feel like second-class citizens because of laws that exclude people from voting due to a criminal conviction. An \u200bestimated 6.1 million American citizens\u200b with felony convictions were barred from voting in the 2016 presidential election alone, a race that was decided by just \u200b79,316 votes\u200b. In short, felony disenfranchisement is not just anti-democratic and bad for public safety, it is an unpopular practice that sprang from the most shameful era of American history, a vestige of our past wildly out of step with international norms. And now is the moment for its abandonment.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Felony disenfranchisement is as senseless as it is cruel. It subverts a person\u2019s fundamental right to participate in the democratic process. We know that returning citizens are far less likely to be re-arrested when we support them in their transitions back home. A \u200blarge body of research\u200b shows that letting formerly incarcerated people vote fosters skills and capacities which are rehabilitative, and is significantly correlated with \u200breducing re-arrest, incarceration, and self-reported criminality\u200b. Ensuring that \u200ball Americans can vote is not just a vital affirmation of our national character, but an important policy to enhance public safety and reduce recidivism.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans are finally starting to push back against this injustice. \u200bMost Americans\u200b now think it\u2019s commonsense that people with prior felony convictions should be allowed to vote after they\u2019ve completed their sentences. Last year, a \u200bsupermajority of Florida voters\u200b endorsed a state constitutional amendment to end permanent disenfranchisement for people who have completed their sentences. Other states already allow formerly incarcerated people to regain their right to vote, but \u200bthey vary\u200b in how they restore those rights,and \u200bseven more states\u200b have introduced bills in 2019 that would abolish felony disenfranchisement.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This growing movement against felony disenfranchisement is a promising endorsement of American values, but it raises a key question: Why disenfranchise people in prison to begin with? Why not let them continue to vote while they are incarcerated?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout Europe, people in prison retain their right to vote while incarcerated. Unlike most American states, these \u200b28 countries\u200b have enacted various measures to ensure that incarcerated people remain fully engaged in society. People who are incarcerated in Germany, for example, not only vote, but earn wages on par with the rest of the workforce. They have the right to be incarcerated near their families, and, upon release, have access to a “network of rights\u200b meant to promote their integration with and membership in German society.” In Europe, mandatory and permanent disenfranchisement is as unusual as it is anti-democratic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

America, too, can honor every citizen\u2019s 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 \u200ballows incarcerated people to maintain a sense of connection to the community\u200b and society at large, which in turn helps prepare them for life after prison. Protecting every American\u2019s right to vote isn\u2019t only popular, it\u2019s also endorsed by those with the most intimate knowledge of our criminal legal system.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u200b to adopt felony disenfranchisement. As these laws spread, states began \u200bcreating lists of crimes\u200b 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even today, communities of color are disenfranchised at much higher rates than white voters. \u200bIn the 2016election\u200b, 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 \u200bfull quarter of the black electorate\u200b cannot vote today due to felony disenfranchisement. Latinx communities are also disenfranchised at \u200brates greater than\u200b 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact Amani Sawari, National Right 2 Vote Campaign, at \u200bamanisawari@gmail.com<\/a>\u200b.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABO Comix<\/em>
Abolitionist Law Center<\/em>
American Civil Liberties Union<\/em>
American Homeless Society<\/em>
Anthony Rella PLLC<\/em>
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project<\/em>
Brooklyn Defender Services<\/em>
Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU School of Law<\/em>
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice<\/em>
Chicago Animal Save<\/em>
Chicago Community Bond Fund<\/em>
Chicago Votes Action Fund<\/em>
Citizen Action of New York<\/em>
Color Of Change<\/em>
Common Cause<\/em>
DACC (Direct Action Coordinating Committee) at Amherst College<\/em>
Data For Progress<\/em>
Demos<\/em>
Disability Advocates for Rights and Transition<\/em>
Drug Policy Alliance<\/em>
DSA MKE<\/em>
Emancipation Initiative<\/em>
Fierce Allies<\/em>
Food Empowerment Project<\/em>
For the People – Saint Louis<\/em>
Franciscan Action Network<\/em>
GAPIMNY\u2014Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders<\/em>
Green Party of Allegheny County<\/em>
Greenpeace USA<\/em>
Harvard Law School National Lawyers Guild<\/em>
Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign<\/em>
Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities – HEARD<\/em>
Illinois Coalition Against Torture<\/em>
Indivisible Midlands (SC2)<\/em>
JustLeadershipUSA<\/em>
LatinoJustice PRLDEF<\/em>
Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee<\/em>
LinkUp<\/em>
Millions For Prisoners New Mexico<\/em>
National Lawyers Guild<\/em>
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund<\/em>
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice<\/em>
North Carolina Green Party<\/em>
North NJ Democratic Socialists of America<\/em>
Northwest Detroiters For Social Justice<\/em>
Nu View Consulting<\/em>
Pitt Prison Outreach<\/em>
Popular Resistance<\/em>
Princeton Students for Prison Education and Reform<\/em>
Prison Policy Initiative<\/em>
Project NIA<\/em>
Quixote Center<\/em>
Racial Justice Action Center<\/em>
Real Justice PAC<\/em>
Rid Racism Milwaukee<\/em>
Right2Vote Campaign<\/em>
San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper<\/em>
Seattle Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee<\/em>
Showing Up for Racial Justice<\/em>
Southern Center for Human Rights<\/em>
Southern Poverty Law Center<\/em>
Students Against Mass Incarceration<\/em>
Students for Prison Education and Reform<\/em>
The Joseph Spencer Pratt Justice Reform Advocacy Group<\/em>
The Justice Collaborative<\/em>
The North Star<\/em>
The Queer Palestinian Empowerment Network<\/em>
UMass Prison Abolition Collective<\/em>
Valley Justice Coalition<\/em>
WESPAC Foundation, Inc<\/em>
WNY Peace Center<\/em>
Worth Rises<\/em>
Yoga For Peace, Justice, Harmony With The Planet<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 30, 2019 by Common Dreams The advocacy organizations called on all 2020 presidential candidates to “publicly commit to ending felony disenfranchisement” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Voting rights advocates March in Manhattan, New York. (Photo:\u00a0Michael Fleshman\/Flickr\/cc) Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday unequivocally doubled down on his position that prisoners should have… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11767,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11766\/revisions\/11767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}