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Full-Text Articles in Civil Rights and Discrimination
Defeating De Facto Disenfranchisement Of Criminal Defendants, Neil Sobol
Defeating De Facto Disenfranchisement Of Criminal Defendants, Neil Sobol
Faculty Scholarship
In a democracy, voting is not only an important civic duty but also a right that governments owe to their citizens. However, by operation of law, forty-eight states deny voting rights to individuals based on criminal convictions. Activists and scholars attack de jure disenfranchisement as an improper collateral consequence that disproportionately impacts people of color. Although recent years show substantial reforms to reenfranchise defendants, an estimated 5.17 million defendants remained ineligible to vote in 2020.
While efforts to address de jure disenfranchisement remain necessary, a problem that has received considerably less attention is the de facto disenfranchisement of criminal defendants …
Felony Financial Disenfranchisement, Neel U. Sukhatme, Alexander Billy, Gaurav Bagwe
Felony Financial Disenfranchisement, Neel U. Sukhatme, Alexander Billy, Gaurav Bagwe
Vanderbilt Law Review
Individuals with prior felony convictions often must complete all terms of their sentence before they regain voter eligibility. Many jurisdictions include legal-financial obligations (“LFOs”)-—fines, fees, and/or restitution stemming from convictions-—in the terms of the sentence. Twenty-eight states, governing over 182 million Americans, either directly or indirectly tie LFO repayment to voting privileges, a practice we call felony financial disenfranchisement.
Proponents of felony financial disenfranchisement posit that returning citizens must satisfy the financial obligations stemming from convictions to restore themselves as community equals. Moralism aside, others claim low rates of electoral participation among those with felony convictions imply such disenfranchisement is …
Texas Disenfranchisement Of Felons, Michelle Baker
Texas Disenfranchisement Of Felons, Michelle Baker
Quest
Policy Research Project
Research in progress for GOVT 2306: Honors Texas Government
Faculty Mentor: Tiffany Cartwright, Ph.D.
Michelle Baker wrote the following research paper as an assignment for my online GOVT 2306: Honors Texas Government class during the Fall 2020 semester. The class assignment helps students begin to formulate a classic policy paper, in which alternative policy options are discussed and analyzed, ultimately leading to a preferred policy option. Students submitted just a few paragraphs of the paper at a time over the course of the fall semester before finally pulling everything together in one cohesive research paper. As Michelle’s …
Black Women And Voter Suppression, Carla Laroche
Black Women And Voter Suppression, Carla Laroche
Scholarly Articles
Black women who are eligible to vote do so at consistently high rates during elections in the United States. For thousands of Black women, however, racism, sexism, and criminal convictions intersect to require them to navigate a maze of laws and policies that keep them from voting. With the alarming rate of convictions and incarceration of Black women, criminal law intersects with civil rights to bar their involvement in the electoral process. This voting ban is known as felony disenfranchisement, but it amounts to voter suppression.
By reconceptualizing voter suppression based on criminal convictions through the experiences of Black women’s …
Mary Lou Graves, Nolen Breedlove, And The Nineteenth Amendment, Ellen D. Katz
Mary Lou Graves, Nolen Breedlove, And The Nineteenth Amendment, Ellen D. Katz
Articles
This close examination of two cases is part of a larger ongoing project to provide a distinct account of the Nineteenth Amendment. In 1921, the Alabama Supreme Court held the Nineteenth Amendment required that any poll tax be imposed equally on men and women. Sixteen years later, the Supreme Court disagreed. Juxtaposing these two cases, and telling their story in rich context, captures my larger claim that—contrary to the general understanding in the scholarly literature—the Nineteenth Amendment was deliberately crafted as a highly circumscribed measure that would eliminate only the exclusively male franchise while serving steadfastly to preserve and promote …
Does The Woman Suffrage Amendment Protect The Voting Rights Of Men?, Steve Kolbert
Does The Woman Suffrage Amendment Protect The Voting Rights Of Men?, Steve Kolbert
Seattle University Law Review
This Article—part of the Seattle University Law Review’s symposium on the centennial of the ratification of the Woman Suffrage Amendment—examines that open possibility. Concluding that the Nineteenth Amendment does protect men’s voting rights, this Article explores why and how that protection empowers Congress to address felon disenfranchisement and military voting. This Article also examines the advantages of using Nineteenth Amendment enforcement legislation compared to legislation enacted under other constitutional provisions.
Part I discusses the unique barriers to voting faced by voters with criminal convictions (Section I.A) and voters in the armed forces (Section I.B). This Part also explains how existing …
The Disenfranchisement Of Ex-Felons In Florida: A Brief History, Sarah A. Lewis
The Disenfranchisement Of Ex-Felons In Florida: A Brief History, Sarah A. Lewis
UF Law Faculty Publications
This paper will explore the origins of Florida’s felony disenfranchisement laws in the period from 1865 to 1968. The first part of this paper will review the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which ended slavery, and the Florida Black Code, which sought to return freedmen to a slavery-like status. The second part of the paper will explore Florida’s reaction to the passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which conditioned reentrance into the Union on the writing of new state constitutions by former Confederate states extending the right to vote to all males regardless of race, and ratification of …
Concealed Motives: Rethinking Fourteenth Amendment And Voting Rights Challenges To Felon Disenfranchisement, Lauren Latterell Powell
Concealed Motives: Rethinking Fourteenth Amendment And Voting Rights Challenges To Felon Disenfranchisement, Lauren Latterell Powell
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
Felon disenfranchisement provisions are justified by many Americans under the principle that voting is a privilege to be enjoyed only by upstanding citizens. The provisions are intimately tied, however, to the country’s legacy of racism and systemic disenfranchisement and are at odds with the values of American democracy. In virtually every state, felon disenfranchisement provisions affect the poor and communities of color on a grossly disproportionate scale. Yet to date, most challenges to the provisions under the Equal Protection Clause and Voting Rights Act have been unsuccessful, frustrating proponents of re-enfranchisement and the disenfranchised alike.
In light of those failures, …
The Nineteenth Amendment Enforcement Power (But First, Which One Is The Nineteenth Amendment, Again?), Steve Kolbert
The Nineteenth Amendment Enforcement Power (But First, Which One Is The Nineteenth Amendment, Again?), Steve Kolbert
Florida State University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Who Should Be Afforded More Protection In Voting – The People Or The States? The States, According To The Supreme Court In Shelby County V. Holder, Tara M. Darling
Who Should Be Afforded More Protection In Voting – The People Or The States? The States, According To The Supreme Court In Shelby County V. Holder, Tara M. Darling
Touro Law Review
No abstract provided.
Transformation: Turning Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Into Something It Is Not, J. Christian Adams
Transformation: Turning Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Into Something It Is Not, J. Christian Adams
Touro Law Review
No abstract provided.
Voter Rights And Civil Rights Era Cold Cases: Section Five And The Five Cities Project, Paula C. Johnson
Voter Rights And Civil Rights Era Cold Cases: Section Five And The Five Cities Project, Paula C. Johnson
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
An “Equal Sovereignty” Principle Born In Northwest Austin, Texas, Raised In Shelby County, Alabama, David Kow
An “Equal Sovereignty” Principle Born In Northwest Austin, Texas, Raised In Shelby County, Alabama, David Kow
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
The Path Forward From Shelby County V. Holder, Janet W. Steverson
The Path Forward From Shelby County V. Holder, Janet W. Steverson
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Grandpa, Charles Walker
Arc Of Injustice: Pre- And Post-Decision Thoughts On Shelby County V. Holder, Janai S. Nelson
Arc Of Injustice: Pre- And Post-Decision Thoughts On Shelby County V. Holder, Janai S. Nelson
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
A Fugitive From The Camp Of The Conquerors: The Revival Of Equal Sovereignty Doctrine In Shelby County V. Holder, Vik Kanwar
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
On The Repeal Of The Voting Rights Act And The Breadth Of The Long Counter Revolution, Ifetayo M. Flannery
On The Repeal Of The Voting Rights Act And The Breadth Of The Long Counter Revolution, Ifetayo M. Flannery
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Backsliding: The United States Supreme Court, Shelby County V. Holder And The Dismantling Of Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Bridgette Baldwin
Backsliding: The United States Supreme Court, Shelby County V. Holder And The Dismantling Of Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Bridgette Baldwin
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Unseen Exclusions In Voting And Immigration Law, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández
Unseen Exclusions In Voting And Immigration Law, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Shelby, Race, And Disability Rights, Ravi Malhotra
Shelby, Race, And Disability Rights, Ravi Malhotra
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Legal Post-Racialism As An Instrument Of Racial Compromise In Shelby County V. Holder, Pantea Javidan
Legal Post-Racialism As An Instrument Of Racial Compromise In Shelby County V. Holder, Pantea Javidan
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Electoral Silver Linings After Shelby, Citizens United And Bennett, Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
Electoral Silver Linings After Shelby, Citizens United And Bennett, Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Elimination Dance, Sarah Jane Forman
Elimination Dance, Sarah Jane Forman
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Jackals, Tall Ships, And The Endless Forest Of Lies: Foreword To Symposium On The Voting Rights Act In The Wake Of Shelby County V. Holder, Anthony Paul Farley
Jackals, Tall Ships, And The Endless Forest Of Lies: Foreword To Symposium On The Voting Rights Act In The Wake Of Shelby County V. Holder, Anthony Paul Farley
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
A Tale Of Two Minority Groups: Can Two Different Minority Groups Bring A Coalition Suit Under Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Sara Michaloski
A Tale Of Two Minority Groups: Can Two Different Minority Groups Bring A Coalition Suit Under Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Sara Michaloski
Catholic University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Shelby County V. Holder And The Voting Rights Act: Getting The Right Answer With The Wrong Standard, Michael James Burns
Shelby County V. Holder And The Voting Rights Act: Getting The Right Answer With The Wrong Standard, Michael James Burns
Catholic University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Section 5 Of The Voting Rights Act And Its Place In Post-Racial America, Enbar Toledano
Section 5 Of The Voting Rights Act And Its Place In Post-Racial America, Enbar Toledano
Enbar Toledano
The Fifteenth Amendment purported to withdraw race and color from the calculus of suffrage. Instead, it gave rise to an era of creative exclusion in which Southern states erected one barrier after another and Congress floundered in its attempts to secure the black vote it had promised. After ninety-five years, progress at last seemed possible with the introduction of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), an echo of the Fifteenth Amendment fitted with shiny, new teeth. Section 5 of the VRA reversed the inertia of discrimination by requiring states with a demonstrated history of employing disfranchising voting practices to …
Outsourcing Democracy: Redefining The Public Private Partnership In Election Administration, Gilda R. Daniels
Outsourcing Democracy: Redefining The Public Private Partnership In Election Administration, Gilda R. Daniels
All Faculty Scholarship
“We are left with a system in which almost every state still outsources its elections to what are actually private organizations.”
Federal, state and local governments are deeply indebted to private organizations, political parties, candidates, and private individuals to assist it, inter alia, in registering voters, getting citizens to the ballot box through get out the vote campaigns (GOTV), assisting limited English proficient (LEP) citizens, and monitoring Election Day activities. In a recent Supreme Court case, Crawford v. Marion County, Justice Souter recognized that voting legislation has “two competing interests,” the fundamental right to vote and the need for governmental …
Protecting The Right To Vote: Oversight Of The Department Of Justice's Preparations For The 2008 Election - Statement Of Gilda R. Daniels Before The Senate Judiciary Committee, September 9, 2008, Gilda R. Daniels
All Faculty Scholarship
In 2000, we witnessed faulty voting machines with hanging chads and dimpled ballots. We also experienced error-filled purges and voter intimidation in minority neighborhoods. Since the 2000 Presidential election the voting rights vocabulary has expanded to include terms such as, voting irregularities and election protection and created a new debate regarding voter access versus voter integrity. Despite the debates and new legislation in the form of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and the continued enforcement of other voting statutes such as the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, (NVRA), problems persist in the operation of our …