[EL] Felon Disenfranchisement

[Justin Levitt]

/Richardson/ claimed that section 2 of the 14th Amendment authorized 
disenfranchisement because of a felony, yes.  But the text itself only 
states that a certain type of penalty (reduced representation in the 
House) isn't authorized by disenfranchisement based on crime.  It has 
always struck me as odd to equate an exception to a particularly 
dramatic sanction with affirmative authorization.

-- 
Justin Levitt
Professor of Law
Loyola Law School | Los Angeles
919 Albany St.
Los Angeles, CA  90015
213-736-7417
justin.levitt at lls.edu
ssrn.com/author=698321

On 11/19/2014 10:52 AM, David Adamany wrote:
>
> Does it make a difference in how we perceive the purpose or orgins of 
> felon disenfranchisement that it appears to be authorized in the 
> second section of the 14th Amendment, which was proposed by a Congress 
> in which the Radical Republicans were very influential? That section 
> reduces representation in the House of Representatives for any state 
> that denies the right to vote to any male inhabitant 21 years of age 
> or older, such reduction in representation to be proportional to the 
> number of such male inhabitants denied the right to vote. However, the 
> Amendment specifically says that representation in the House is not to 
> be reduced if the denial of the right to vote is based on rebellion or 
> /other crime./ In Richardson v. Ramirez, 418 U.S. 234 (1974) the 
> Court, in approving felon disenfranchisement in California, cited that 
> provision of the 14th Amendment as allowing states to disenfranchise 
> felons.
>
> In general, I am in favor of restoring voting rights when persons 
> convicted of crimes have served their sentences. And many years ago 
> when I served as pardon counsel to the governor of a mid-western state 
> I sometimes recommended pardons for felons who had completed their 
> sentences based, in part, on their desire to have their voting rights 
> restored. All of that taken into account, I am skeptical that the 
> origins of felon disenfrachisement are racist.  On the other hand, I 
> have no doubt that felon disenfranchisement at this time in American 
> history has a racially disproportionate effect, and I am in favor of 
> state laws or constitutional amendments that restore voting rights 
> when a felon has completed his/her sentence.
>
> David
> David Adamany
> Laura Carnell Professor of Law
> and Political Science, and
> Chancellor
> 1810 Liacouras Walk, Ste 330
> Temple University
> Philadelphia, PA 19122
> (215) 204-9278
>
> David Adamany
> Laura Carnell Professor of Law
> and Political Science, and
> Chancellor
> 1810 Liacouras Walk, Ste 330
> Temple University
> Philadelphia, PA 19122
> (215) 204-9278
>
>
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