quote:
Originally posted by Nmaginate:
Ricardo,
Perhaps you can specifically help me out in understanding those figures. I mean explicitly...
Are those figures/rates stipulating that there is a higher frequency of Black disenfranchisement vs. White?
My basic question is (showing my ignorance on this subject) are ex-felons normally re-instated with full voting privileges? I'm just particularly ignorant of that law as it pertains to felon enfranchisement...
For example...
In FLORIDA out of the total felons 647,100 assuming there are 100,000 or more White felons with only 5.9% left disenfranchised 31.2% of all Black felons.
Is that simply saying that Black felons are specifically stripped of their franchisement at a rate higher than Whites or somehow prohibited more so than Whites at regaining their right to vote?
What I'm trying to separate in my mind is the idea that somehow (though I don't think I've heard this) antagonist feeling like this is a way to try to create "new" votes. Maybe I'm lost on what should be obvious.
How are voting rights restored for felons and what specifically prohibits Black felons?
The 647,100 figure is the total number of
disenfranchised felons (includes those in prison, on probation, on parole, and ex-felons). The figures in that column refer only to those felons who are disenfranchised. (Note that some states have a 0 in that column. Those states have felons, of course, it's just that they can all vote.
The same goes for the 204,600 figure. That's the total number of
disenfranchised Black male felons.
The first percentage, is the percentage of people disenfranchised
out of the total population, not the percentage disenfranchised out of the felons.
Likewise, the second percentage is the percentage of disenfranchised Black males
out of the total population of Black males, not out of the Black male felons. Thus, the 31.2% figure really does mean that
nearly 1/3 of the entire Black male population is disenfranchised. To emphasise, that's not 1/3 of all Black male felons, but really is 1/3 of the black male population overall. (over 18, of course)
This is why I think that the issue is so important. We're not talking about a handful of people, but rather numbers with a huge demographic impact at the polls.
BTW, here's the page that has the table.
http://www.hrw.org/reports98/vote/usvot98o-01.htm#P101_2428The second table breaks the disenfranchised felons into the categories of prison, probation, parole, and ex-felon. Note that there are states that allow felons who are currently in prison to vote, so nobody should think that it would be outlandish to demand that. The arguement can also be made that we should be encouraging prisoners to participate constructively in society in preparation for getting out, and that by encouraging voting while still in prison, we are doing just that.
Finally, by eliminating disenfranchisement, we eliminate one incentive that some politicians have for voting for criminal justice measures that disproportunately affect Blacks.
I think that it's ashame that just a few months ago, the last person to be convicted by this criminal was released from prison. If they haven't already, I hope that they prosecute this man to the fullest extent the U.S. law will allow.