"Restoring Voting Rights for People with Drug Convictions"

1. "Restoring Voting Rights for People with Drug Convictions" Webinar Series March 24, 2007

2. Introductions • Pat Taylor Faces & Voices of Recovery • Alexa Eggleston, J.D. The Legal Action Center & National H.I.R.E. Network • Kara Gotsch The Sentencing Project • Barbara Hurst Rhode Island Restore the Vote Coalition • Mike Barry People Advocating Recovery 2

3. Purpose and Goals of Today’s Webinar • Understanding the barriers facing people with drug conviction • Understanding the history behind voting rights restrictions • Learning about efforts underway nationwide to restore voting rights • How Rhode Island restored voting rights • How Kentucky recovery advocates are working in coalition to restore voting rights 3

4. Moving On: Removing the Collateral Consequences of Drug Related Convictions Alexa Eggleston, J.D. The Legal Action Center & National H.I.R.E. Network

5. Extent of the Problem: the Substantial Reach of the Criminal Justice System • Nearly 7 million people are currently involved in the criminal justice system through incarceration, parole, or probation. • One in every 140 U.S residents confined in a state or federal prison or local jail. • Over 65 million people have a criminal history on file with state government. • That means about 30% of the nation’s adult population live a substantial portion of their lives having a criminal record.

6. Untreated Addiction is Critical Issue for Many Individuals in Criminal Justice System • 84% of individuals in State prison involved with alcohol or illicit drugs at the time of their offense • 21% indicated that they committed their offense for money to buy drugs • Few individuals receive alcohol or drug addiction treatment services while in prison.

7. Overview of 3 Key Areas Regarding Restoration of Rights • Employment Discrimination • Education: Access “behind the walls” and upon release • Public Assistance (Welfare benefits): Lifetime ban on cash assistance and food stamps

8. Employment Issues • Employers in most states can: • Deny jobs to people who were arrested but never convicted of a crime • Deny jobs to, or fire, anyone with a criminal record, regardless of their individual history, including efforts at rehabilitation • Most states do not have expungement or sealing laws for criminal histories.

9. Employment: Congress Could… • Offer hiring incentives to businesses, including Federal contractors and agencies to hire people with records • Amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include a ban on unfair employment discrimination that would require employer to consider: • Whether the conviction is job-related • Length of time since the conviction or the completion of the sentence

10. Employment: States and Locals Should… • Prohibit consideration of arrests that did not lead to conviction in employment decisions • Enact Hiring standards that require a “direct” relationship between the conviction and type of job • Enact Sealing and Expungement Laws • Limit Information Available on Internet to Public • Enact Certificates of Rehabilitation • Enact “Ban the Box” Policies: Minneapolis and San Francisco

11. Education: Congress Should… • Reinstate Pell Grants for Incarcerated Individuals • Repeal Remaining Federal Financial Aid Ban for People with Drug Convictions

12. Federal Lifetime Ban on Cash Assistance and Food Stamps for Individuals Convicted of Drug Felony • States can and should opt-out of ban • Congress: Repeal ban • 16 states still have the ban, 21 have modified and 16 have opted out.

13. Faces and Voices of Recovery Webinar: Restoring Voting Rights for People with Drug Convictions Kara Gotsch March 27, 2007

14. State Disenfranchisement Laws • 48 states and Washington, DC prohibit voting by persons incarcerated for a felony conviction • 35 states deny the vote to persons on parole • 30 states do not allow probationers to vote • 11 states can permanently deny the right to vote

15. Who is Affected? • 5.3 million Americans are prohibited from voting as a result of a felony conviction • 74% live in the community • 2.1 million have completed their sentence • 1 in 12 African Americans cannot vote • 1 in 8 black men are disenfranchised • Almost 700,000 women are barred

16. Origins of Felony Disenfranchisement • “Civil Death” was a tradition in medieval Europe • Colonists imported the concept to America • Racist intentions expanded policies during Reconstruction • Modern prison expansion led to unprecedented growth in disenfranchised population

17. Grounds for Voting Rights Expansion • Democratic principal of universal suffrage • Voting linked to reduced recidivism • 8 in 10 voters support restoration for people who have completed their sentence • Racial disparity in sentencing contributes to disparity in rates of disenfranchisement • Commission on Federal Election Reform, American Bar Association and American Correctional Association endorse restoration

18. Momentum for Reform • Since 1997, 16 states have expanded voting rights to people with convictions • Over 600,000 people regained the vote • Began with then Governor George W. Bush’s repeal of TX 2-year waiting period • Latest reform was RI ballot measure favoring voting rights for people on parole and probation

19. Join Movement for Voting Reform • In 2007, at least 20 states introduced legislation to address felony disenfranchisement • State-based coalitions operating across the country • Allies include religious organizations, formerly incarcerated people, civil rights and criminal justice reform organizations

20. POLITICALPUNISHMENTThe Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement for Rhode Island CommunitiesBarbara Hurst

21. Felon Disenfranchisement Laws in RI • All citizens convicted of a felony lose the right to vote for the entire duration of their sentence. They may not vote while incarcerated or while living in the community under probation or parole supervision. -RI Constitution, Article II, Section 1

22. Barred from Voting • 15,810 Rhode Island Citizens who are no longer in prison are denied the right to vote. • 2% of the adult population

23. Gender Disparities 23

24. Disproportionate Racial impact 24

25. Men Without the Vote by Race 25

26. Statewide Impact • 58% of the state’s disenfranchised population comes from five cities • Central Falls • Pawtucket • Providence • Newport • Woonsocket • 1 in 25 Providence adults cannot vote • The rate of disenfranchisement in urban areas is 3.5 times the rate for the rest of Rhode Island 26

27. Providence Neighborhood Impact • While Providence is 17% of the state’s population, 35% of those disenfranchised in the state come from Providence • 5606 Providence residents are barred from voting • The rate of disenfranchisement in Upper South Providence is over 35 times the rate in Blackstone

28. What we have accomplished: -Passed a resolution in the General Assembly to place Question 2 on the ballot. -Passed companion legislation to create the implementation system (law will go into effect when Question 2 passes). -Changed laws that were effectively keeping non-profits from advocating on a ballot question. -Secured funding to pursue a statewide campaign.

29. People Advocating Recovery (PAR) and the Restoration of Voting Rights Coalition (ROVRC) Mike Barry

30. Recovery Community • People Advocating Recovery (PAR) • 500+ members representing the recovery community – people in long-term recovery, friends, and allies. • Many members without voting rights

31. KY Restoration of Voting Rights Coalition 17 groups working to have Kentucky’s 2007 General Assembly place an initiative on the ballot in November 2008. Addiction Recovery Advocates of Kentuckiana (ARAK) AFL-CIO American Civil Liberties Union of KY Catholic Conference of KY Central KY Council for Peace and Justice Fairness Campaign Fayette Chapter of The Women's Network Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (Central KY) Kentucky Jobs with Justice KY Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

32. KY Restoration of Voting Rights Coalition KY Council of Churches League of Women Voters of Kentucky NAACP-Louisville NAACP People Advocating Recovery Quaker Committee on KY Legislation (QCKL) Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in KY The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass (TIP) Lexington Diocesan Council for Peace and Justice Citizens for a Just Kentucky Kentucky Domestic Violence Association Kentucky Mental Health Coalition

33. Opportunities for Recovery Community • Platform to educate partners and policymakers about people in long-term recovery • Recovery community could assume leadership role • Reducing stigma • Restoration of rights

34. Civil Rights • Voting, serving on a jury, running for public office • Kentucky is one of 14 “permanent disenfranchisement” states, meaning that unless given rights back by the Governor, you do not get your civil rights back after a felony conviction. Can vote with a misdemeanor. • Currently must fill out application, have PO or notary sign, send to Dept. of Corrections. Commonwealth Attorney reviews. Governor’s office sends letter requesting an essay explaining why want rights back and three character references.

35. Strategic Planning PAR and the coalition planned for funding in advance for two scenarios: • If it passed and made it to the ballot then money to educate the public on voting. • If it did not….money to work on education for the next session this coming January.

36. Recovery Community • Testified before House and Senate committees • Great impact because many have not had their right to vote restored.  • Legislative visits • Media outreach and interviews – radio, TV and newspaper • Speakers at rallies at the State Capitol

37. Media StrategyKY Voting Rights Coalition Press Conference To Release Public Opinion Poll demonstrating strong (56%) public support for an amendment to the KY constitution to automatically restore the right to vote upon completion of sentence, including probation and parole. • Speakers: Representative Jesse Crenshaw, Senator Gerald Neal, Representative Daryl Owens (legislative sponsors) • Speakers: Raoul Cunningham – chair of Louisville Chapter of the NAACP, Bill Caufield, President of State NAACP, Mitch Ford - ex-offender seeking to have his rights restored (coalition members) November, 2006

38. PAR member speaking at press conference

39. Advocacy Resources Alexa Eggleston, JD Legal Action Center 236 Massachusetts Ave., NE Ste. 510 Washington, DC 20002 www.lac.org 202.544.5478 aeggleston@lac.org • National H.I.R.E. Network (www.hirenetwork.org) • National Policy/Federal issues: 202.544.5478 • State specific Questions: 212.243.1313 • After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry and Advocacy Toolkits (www.lac.org/roadblocks.html) 39

40. Advocacy Resources Kara Gotsch The Sentencing Project 514 10th Street NW, #1000 Washington, DC 20004 202-628-0871 kgotsch@sentencingproject.org • Subscribe to Disenfranchisement Newsletter at: www.sentencingproject.org/contact.aspx?IssueID=4 • Identify state advocates on this issue at: www.sentencingproject.org/StatsByState.aspx 40

41. Advocacy Resources Mike Barry PAR-People Advocating Recovery 1020 West Market St. Louisville, KY 40202 502-357-1973 mike.barry@peopleadvocatingrecovery.org www.peopleadvocatingrecovery.org • Felony Disenfranchisement in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is available from The League of Women Voters of Kentucky at http://www.lwvky.org/ 41

42. Advocacy Resources Barbara Hurst Deputy Public Defender, State of Rhode Island Restore the Vote Coalition bhurst@ripd.org www.restorethevote.org

43. Questions And Answers Faces & Voices of Recovery www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org