[EL] "The Racist Origins of Felon Disenfranchisement"

[Sean Parnell]

There's a bit of a disconnect in the data and the conclusion regarding the
opinion piece ""The Racist Origins of Felon Disenfranchisement." There was
indeed an "explosion" in felon disenfranchisement laws in the post-Civil War
era, specifically the late 1860's and 1870's. But two points are worth
making:

 

1.       Many states had felon disenfranchisement laws before the Civil War
- California, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin, according to the
research cited by the article's author. This suggests an origin of felon
disenfranchisement laws other than racism.

2.       Many of the states that adopted felon disenfranchisement laws in
the '60s and '70s were indeed Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas),
which would seem to fit nicely with the idea that it was racism driving
these laws, except that to the best of my recollection most if not all of
these states were under the control of the 'Radical Republicans' pursuing
the Reconstruction agenda, which relied to some degree on maximizing black
turnout in order to maintain political control - suggesting something else
perhaps motivating the passage of these laws. I should also note that
Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska were among the states adding
felon disenfranchisement laws to their books in this time period, I don't
know about IL and MO but to the best of my knowledge neither Colorado or
Nebraska had quite the toxic racist sentiments that prevailed in much of the
old Confederacy. 

 

I should note, I haven't had (and won't have) the time to verify #2, that
state legislatures were under the control of Radical Republicans relying on
black votes in each or most of the states passing felon disenfranchisement
laws, I'd be interested in hearing if I've misunderstood or misremembered
this situation.

 

It would not surprise me at all to learn that in the post-Reconstruction era
the Jim Crow Democrats had racist motives for continuing and expanding the
reach of such laws. But the two points above suggest there isn't much
history to support the contention that the origin of felon
disenfranchisement laws is rooted in racism.

 

Best,

 

Sean Parnell

President

Impact Policy Management, LLC

6411 Caleb Court

Alexandria, VA  22315

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

 


 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68485> "The Racist Origins of Felon
Disenfranchisement"


Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68485> November 18, 2014 8:55 pm
by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> Rick Hasen

 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/opinion/the-racist-origins-of-felon-disen
franchisement.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-
region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0>
Brent Staples NYT Editorial Observer column.

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