[EL] Felon Disenfranchisement

[Frank Askin]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Levitt" <levittj at lls.edu>
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 2:04:18 PM
Subject: Re: [EL] Felon Disenfranchisement

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: 


Justin,that is precisely the point I made in my article "Disfranchising Felons (Or How William Rehnquist Earned His Stripes)" FRANK


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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