[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4217 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4217

   To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from 
                incarceration under the First Step Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 30, 2024

  Ms. Butler (for herself, Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Welch, Mr. 
Wyden, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Coons, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Smith, Mr. Markey, Mr. 
 Van Hollen, and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was 
       read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from 
                incarceration under the First Step Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the Next Step Home Act.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The recidivism rates of beneficiaries of the First Step 
        Act (Public Law 115-391; 132 Stat. 5194) is only 12.4 percent 
        compared to the overall recidivism rate of 43 percent for 
        prisoners in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons.
            (2) The success of most individuals released under the 
        First Step Act (Public Law 115-391; 132 Stat. 5194) 
        demonstrates that reducing the population in overcrowded 
        Federal prisons can be done safely and effectively.
            (3) Extending the Federal franchise to individuals with 
        criminal convictions will further reduce recidivism rates.
            (4) Basic constitutional principles of fairness and equal 
        protection require an equal opportunity for citizens of the 
        United States to vote in Federal elections.
            (5) Section 4 of article I of the Constitution of the 
        United States grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over 
        Federal elections, an authority which has repeatedly been 
        upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.
            (6) The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
        States, which prohibits excessive bail, the imposition of 
        excessive fines, and the infliction of cruel and unusual 
        punishments, also moves Congress to act when lifetime felony 
        voting bans are used to mistreat those with felony convictions.
            (7) The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments 
        to the Constitution of the United States empower Congress to 
        enact measures that further protect the right to vote in 
        Federal elections, and codify the principle that the right to 
        vote may not be abridged or denied by the United States or by 
        any State on account of race, color, gender, or previous 
        condition of servitude.
            (8) Congress also has independent authority under the 14th, 
        15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments to the Constitution of 
        the United States to ensure elections are conducted without 
        unlawful discrimination. Under these amendments, Congress has 
        the duty to act when incarcerated individuals are treated as 
        second-class citizens through the denial of the vote.
            (9) The Reconstruction Amendments specifically, which 
        include the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution 
        of the United States, require full legal and political equality 
        for former slaves and their progeny, many of whom are 
        individuals with criminal convictions today.
            (10) The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
        States stands out as perhaps the most important amendment given 
        the Equal Protection Clause in section 1 has been the basis on 
        which Federal courts have been able to strike down laws and 
        practices that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race. 
        The rate at which Black men are imprisoned in Federal 
        facilities in the United States raises Equal Protection 
        concerns given that their imprisonment remains many times that 
        of their White counterparts and more than double that of the 
        Hispanic male population, showing huge racial discrepancies in 
        the criminal justice system.
            (11) Additionally, according to scholars such as Henry 
        Chambers, ``A reasonably robust vision of the Fifteenth 
        Amendment focuses on the political equality that should have 
        been the culmination of the Reconstruction Amendments. That 
        vision requires that rules and procedures that limit the 
        political equality of minority groups be justified as necessary 
        for the functioning of the electoral system, not that they 
        merely appear colorblind. Such a reading of the Fifteenth 
        Amendment may appear to require affirmative action on the part 
        of States to guarantee minority representation and might appear 
        to conflict with an equally robust reading of the Fourteenth 
        Amendment and its supposed colorblind principle. If this is the 
        case, so be it.''.
            (12) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352; 78 
        Stat. 241) and the Voting Rights Act 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 
        seq.) also extend the authority to Congress to continue to 
        exercise its constitutional authority in this space as 
        appropriate.
            (13) Congress is also moved to act given the discrepancies 
        in State laws regarding criminal convictions leading to 
        unfairness in Federal elections. As of 2024, 48 States have 
        either temporarily or permanently banned individuals with 
        felony convictions from voting while the District of Columbia, 
        the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 2 States, Maine and 
        Vermont, ensure these individuals retain the franchise even 
        while they are incarcerated.
            (14) In 23 States, individuals with felony convictions lose 
        their access to the franchise only while incarcerated and get 
        their right to vote ``automatically restored'' once their 
        prison sentence is completed. These States are California, 
        Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, 
        Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New 
        Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, North Dakota, 
        Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Washington.
            (15) The remaining 25 States have voting laws on the books 
        that are less friendly towards individuals with prior felony 
        convictions. In 14 States, individuals with felony convictions 
        typically have their voting rights restored after parole or 
        probation is completed. These States are Alaska, Arkansas, 
        Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, 
        Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, 
        and Wisconsin. In the remaining 11 States, individuals with 
        felony convictions lose their voting rights indefinitely for 
        some crimes or require the pardon of a Governor to get their 
        access to the franchise restored. These States are Alabama, 
        Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, 
        Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming.
            (16) Despite their disenfranchisement, individuals with 
        felony convictions continue to be counted as part of State 
        populations for representation purposes in Congress and for the 
        Electoral College. According to author Michelle Alexander in 
        The New Jim Crow, ``[T]he Census Bureau counts imprisoned 
        individuals as residents of the jurisdiction in which they are 
        incarcerated [through the usual-residence rule].''.
            (17) Disenfranchising citizens who have been convicted of a 
        criminal offense and who are living and working in the 
        community serves no compelling State interest and hinders their 
        rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
            (18) Finally, the right to vote is the most basic 
        constitutive act of citizenship. Restoring voting rights in 
        Federal elections to individuals with felony convictions will 
        better integrate these individuals into free society, improve 
        public safety, strengthen the overall reentry process in the 
        United States, and move the United States closer to realizing 
        the rehabilitative goals of its broken carceral system.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual'' 
        means an individual who--
                    (A) completes serving a sentence for a conviction 
                under a Federal criminal law on or after December 21, 
                2018; and
                    (B)(i) has time credits applied toward time in 
                prerelease custody or supervised release pursuant to 
                section 3632(d)(4)(C) of title 18, United States Code;
                    (ii) on or after the effective date of the 
                amendments made by section 102(b) of the First Step Act 
                of 2018 (Public Law 115-391; 132 Stat. 5210), receives 
                credit toward the service of the sentence of the 
                individual under section 3624(b)(1) of title 18, United 
                States Code;
                    (iii) is placed in prerelease custody or supervised 
                release under section 3624(g) of title 18, United 
                States Code;
                    (iv) on or after December 21, 2018--
                            (I) commits a violation of section 
                        401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
                        U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) or section 1010(b) of the 
                        Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 
                        U.S.C. 906(b)) after a prior conviction for a 
                        serious drug felony or serious violent felony, 
                        as those terms are defined in section 102 of 
                        the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); 
                        and
                            (II) is sentenced for a violation described 
                        in subclause (I);
                    (v) is sentenced pursuant to section 3553(f) of 
                title 18, United States Code, for a conviction entered 
                on or after December 21, 2018;
                    (vi) is sentenced pursuant to section 924(c)(1)(C) 
                of title 18, United States Code, for an offense--
                            (I) committed before December 21, 2018; and
                            (II) for which a sentence was not imposed 
                        before December 21, 2018;
                    (vii) receives a reduced sentence under section 404 
                of the First Step Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-391; 132 
                Stat. 5222);
                    (viii)(I) is an eligible elderly offender, as 
                defined in section 231(g)(5) of the Second Chance Act 
                of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(g)(5)); and
                    (II) is placed in home detention pursuant to 
                section 231(g) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 
                U.S.C. 60541(g)); or
                    (ix) receives a reduced term of imprisonment upon 
                motion of the individual under section 3582(c)(1)(A) of 
                title 18, United States Code.
            (2) Election.--The term ``election'' means--
                    (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 
                election;
                    (B) a convention or caucus of a political party 
                held to nominate a candidate;
                    (C) a primary election held for the selection of 
                delegates to a national nominating convention of a 
                political party; or
                    (D) a primary election held for the expression of a 
                preference for the nomination of persons for election 
                to the office of President.
            (3) Federal office.--The term ``Federal office'' means the 
        office of President or Vice President of the United States, or 
        of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 
        Commissioner to, the Congress of the United States.
            (4) Probation.--The term ``probation'' means probation, 
        imposed by a Federal court with or without a condition on the 
        covered individual involved concerning--
                    (A) the individual's freedom of movement;
                    (B) the payment of damages by the individual;
                    (C) periodic reporting by the individual to an 
                officer of the court; or
                    (D) supervision of the individual by an officer of 
                the court.

SEC. 4. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.

    The right of a covered individual who is a citizen of the United 
States to vote in any election for Federal office shall not be denied 
or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal 
offense.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Attorney General.--The Attorney General may, in a civil action, 
obtain such declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to remedy 
a violation of this Act.
    (b) Private Right of Action.--
            (1) In general.--A person who is aggrieved by a violation 
        of this Act may provide written notice of the violation to the 
        chief election official of the State involved.
            (2) Relief.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the 
        violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt of a 
        notice under paragraph (1), or within 20 days after receipt of 
        the notice if the violation occurred within 120 days before the 
        date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 
        may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief 
        with respect to the violation.
            (3) Exception.--If the violation occurred within 30 days 
        before the date of an election for Federal office, the 
        aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief election 
        official of the State under paragraph (1) before bringing a 
        civil action to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with 
        respect to the violation.

SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS.

    (a) Notification.--Any covered individual who has been convicted of 
a criminal offense under Federal law shall be notified in accordance 
with subsection (b) that such individual has the right to vote in an 
election for Federal office pursuant to the Next Step Home Act and may 
register to vote in any such election.
    (b) Date of Notification.--
            (1) Felony conviction.--In the case of such an covered 
        individual who has been convicted of a felony, the notification 
        required under subsection (a) shall be given--
                    (A) in the case of an covered individual who is 
                sentenced to serve only a term of probation, by the 
                Assistant Director for the Office of Probation and 
                Pretrial Services of the Administrative Office of the 
                United States Courts on the date on which the 
                individual is sentenced; or
                    (B) in the case of any covered individual committed 
                to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, by the 
                Director of the Bureau of Prisons, during the period 
                beginning on the date that is 6 months before such 
                individual is released and ending on the date such 
                individual is released from the custody of the Bureau 
                of Prisons.
            (2) Misdemeanor conviction.--In the case of such a covered 
        individual who has been convicted of a misdemeanor, the 
        notification required under subsection (a) shall be given on 
        the date on which such individual is sentenced by a court 
        established by an Act of Congress.

SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

    (a) State Laws Relating to Voting Rights.--Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to prohibit any State from enacting any State law 
which affords the right to vote in any election for Federal office on 
terms less restrictive than those established by this Act.
    (b) Certain Federal Acts.--The rights and remedies established by 
this Act are in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by 
law, and neither rights and remedies established by this Act shall 
supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter Registration Act 
(52 U.S.C. 20501), or the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 
20901 et seq.).

SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS.

    No State, unit of local government, or other person may receive or 
use, to construct or otherwise improve a prison, jail, or other place 
of incarceration, any Federal funds unless that State, unit of local 
government, or person--
            (1) is in compliance with section 4; and
            (2) has in effect a program under which each covered 
        individual incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction who is a 
        citizen of the United States is notified, upon release from 
        such incarceration, of that individual's rights under section 
        4.

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States voting in any 
election for Federal office held on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
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