[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 59 (Thursday, April 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2381-S2382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Booker, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Sanders, and Mrs.
Gillibrand):
S. 2235. A bill to secure the Federal voting rights of persons when
released from incarceration; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the
Democracy Restoration Act, known as the DRA. I want to thank Judiciary
Committee Chairman Leahy and Senators Durbin, Whitehouse, Booker,
Harkin, and Sanders as original cosponsors of this legislation.
As the late Senator Kennedy often said, civil rights is the
``unfinished business'' of America. The Democracy Restoration Act would
restore voting rights in Federal elections to approximately 5.8 million
citizens who have been released from prison and are back living in
their communities.
After the Civil War, Congress enacted and the States ratified the
Fifteenth Amendment, which provides that ``the right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.''
Unfortunately, many States passed laws during the Jim Crow period
after the Civil War to make it more difficult for newly-freed slaves to
vote in elections. Such laws included poll taxes, literacy tests, and
disenfranchisement measures. Some disenfranchisement measures applied
to misdemeanor convictions and in practice could result in lifetime
disenfranchisement, even for individuals that successfully reintegrated
into their communities as law-abiding citizens.
It took Congress and the States nearly another century to eliminate
the poll tax, upon the ratification of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment in
1964. The Amendment provides that ``the rights of citizens of the
United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or
Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of
failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.''
Shortly thereafter Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
which swept away numerous State laws and procedures that had denied
African-Americans and other minorities their constitutional right to
vote. For example, the act outlawed the use of literacy or history
tests that voters had to pass before registering to vote or casting
their ballot.
The act specifically prohibits States from imposing any ``voting
qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or
procedure . . . to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the
United States to vote on account of race or color.'' Congress
overwhelmingly reauthorized the Act in 2006, which was signed into law
by President George W. Bush. Congress is now working on legislation to
revitalize the VRA after recent Supreme Court decisions curtailed its
reach.
In 2014, I am concerned that there are still several areas where the
legacy of Jim Crow laws and State disenfranchisement statutes lead to
unfairness in Federal elections. First, State laws governing the
restoration of voting rights vary widely throughout the country, such
that persons in some States can easily regain their voting rights,
while in other States persons effectively lose their right to vote
permanently. Second, these State disenfranchisement laws have a
disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minorities. Third, this
patchwork of State laws results in the lack of a uniform standard for
eligibility to vote in Federal elections, and leads to an unfair
disparity and unequal participation in Federal elections based solely
on where an individual lives. Finally, studies indicate that former
prisoners who have voting rights restored are less likely to reoffend,
and disenfranchisement hinders their rehabilitation and reintegration
into their community.
In 35 States, convicted individuals may not vote while they are on
parole. In 11 States, a conviction can result in lifetime
disenfranchisement. Several States require prisoners to seek
discretionary pardons from Governors, or action by the parole or pardon
board, in order to regain their right to vote. Several States deny the
right to vote to individuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. States
are slowly moving or repeal or loosen many of these barriers to voting
for ex-prisoners.
An estimated 5,850,000 citizens of the United States, or about 1 in
40 adults in the United States, currently cannot vote as a result of a
felony conviction. Of the 5,850,000 citizens barred from voting, only
25 percent are in prison. By contrast, 75 percent of the
disenfranchised reside in their communities while on probation or
parole after having completed their sentences. Approximately 2,600,000
citizens who have completed their sentences remain disenfranchised due
to restrictive State laws. In six States: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky,
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia--more than 7 percent of the total
population is disenfranchised.
Studies show that a growing number of African-American men, for
example, will be disenfranchised at some point in their life, partly
due to mandatory minimum sentencing laws that have a disproportionate
impact on minorities.
Eight percent of the African-American population, or 2 million
African-Americans, are disenfranchised. Given current rates of
incarceration, approximately 1 in 3 of the next generation of African-
American men will be disenfranchised at some point during their
lifetime. Currently, 1 of every 13 African-Americans are rendered
unable to vote because of felony disenfranchisement, which is a rate 4
times greater than non African-Americans. Nearly 8 percent of African-
Americans are disenfranchised, compared to less than 2 percent of non-
African-Americans. In 3 states more than 1 in 5 African-Americans are
unable to vote because of prior convictions: the rates are Florida at
23 percent, Kentucky at 22 percent, and Virginia at 20 percent.
Latino citizens are disproportionately disenfranchised based on their
disproportionate representation in the criminal justice system. If
current incarceration trends hold, 17 percent of Latino men will be
incarcerated during their lifetime, in contrast to less than 6 percent
of non-Latino white men. When analyzing the data across 10 States,
Latinos generally have disproportionately higher rates of
disenfranchisement compared to their presence in the voting age
population. In 6 out of 10 States studies in 2003, Latinos constitute
more than 10 percent of the total number of persons disenfranchised by
State felony laws. In 4 States, California, 37 percent; New York, 34
percent; Texas, 30 percent; and Arizona, 27 percent, Latinos were
disenfranchised by a rate of more than 25 percent. Native Americans are
also disproportionately disenfranchised.
Congress has addressed part of this problem by enacting the Fair
Sentencing Act to partially reduce the sentencing disparity between
crack cocaine and powder cocaine convictions. Congress is now
considering legislation
[[Page S2382]]
that would more broadly revise mandatory sentencing procedures and
create a fairer system of sentencing. While I welcome these steps, I
believe that Congress should take stronger action now to remedy this
particular problem.
The legislation would restore voting rights to prisoners after their
release from incarceration. It requires that prisons receiving Federal
funds notify people about their right to vote in Federal elections when
they are leaving prison, sentenced to probation, or convicted of a
misdemeanor. The bill authorizes the Department of Justice and
individuals harmed by violation of this act to sue to enforce its
provisions. The bill generally provides State election officials with a
grace period to resolve voter eligibility complaints without a lawsuit
before an election.
The legislation is narrowly crafted to apply to Federal elections,
and retains the States' authorities to generally establish voting
qualifications. This legislation is therefore consistent with
Congressional authority under the Constitution and voting rights
statutes, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
I am pleased that this legislation has been endorsed by a large
coalition of public interest organizations, including: civil rights and
reform organizations; religious and faith-based organizations; and law
enforcement and criminal justice organizations. In particular I want to
thank the Brennan Center for Justice, the ACLU, the Leadership
Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the NAACP for their work on
this legislation.
This legislation is ultimately designed to reduce recidivism rates
and help reintegrate ex-prisoners back into society. When prisoners are
released, they are expected to obey the law, get a job, and pay taxes
as they are rehabilitated and reintegrated into their community. With
these responsibilities and obligations of citizenship should also come
the rights of citizenship, including the right to vote.
In 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Second Chance Act into
law, after overwhelming approval and strong bipartisan support in
Congress. The legislation expanded the Prison Re-Entry Initiative, by
providing job training, placement services, transitional housing, drug
treatment, medical care, and faith-based mentoring. At the signing
ceremony, President Bush said: ``We believe that even those who have
struggled with a dark past can find brighter days ahead. One way we act
on that belief is by helping former prisoners who have paid for their
crimes. We help them build new lives as productive members of our
society.''
The Democracy Restoration Act is fully consistent with the goals of
the Second Chance Act, as Congress and the States seek to reduce
recidivism rates, strengthen the quality of life in our communities and
make them safer, and reduce the burden on taxpayers.
More recently, in a February 2014 speech, Attorney General Eric
Holder called on elected officials to reexamine disenfranchisement
statutes and enact reforms to restore voting rights.
I therefore urge Congress to address the issue of disenfranchisement
and support this legislation.
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