In one week, most of us will head to the polls to cast our vote. This year’s decisive election will mean that every vote will count, especially in swing states where there is a tight race between the candidates. Unfortunately, 5.85 million Americans will not be able to voice their political views this November due to voting regulation laws which deny convicted felons the right to vote in most states. Since the 1970s, there has been a 500% increase in felon disenfranchisement due to the War on Drugs, which disproportionately affects poor, African American and Latino communities. This means that 7.66% – 1 out of every 13 African Americans – will be barred from the vote, an estimate that is four times greater than the rate for people who are not of African American descent. Out of the 10 states with the highest disenfranchisement rates, 7 are in the South. Florida, a state that is almost always critical to an election victory, has the highest disenfranchisement rate in the country with 23.32% of its African American population unable to vote. Disenfranchisement laws have swung Presidential elections (more…)
All posts tagged The Sentencing Project
After Incarceration, Democracy?
Every year, about 5.85 million Americans are locked out of the vote. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Approximately 5.85 million people that have paid their debt to society and are productive citizens, aren’t allowed all the privileges of full citizenship. These people are not guilty of voter fraud or any crimes that may warrant this type of punishment. Legislation in forty-eight states, with the exception of Maine and Vermont, exclude convicted felons from voting and the ability to regain this right varies from state to state. Individuals affected by this policy mirror the population found in our prisons and are mainly African American and Latino, effectively barring about 1 out of 13 African Americans from the polls.
Posted by Progressive Pupil on September 28, 2012
http://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/democracy-after-incarceration/
Crack Dens, Houses, Heads and Babies: Five Myths of the Crack Cocaine Epidemic
A version of this post was originally published on March 12, 2012
The mythology of the crack cocaine epidemic misdirects the devastation of persistent social inequities to cautionary tales of crack houses, crack heads and crack babies. Yet the emergence of myth is a predictable response within a society that too often places the blame on those victimized by social marginalization. While there is no doubt that crack cocaine use has devastating effects on individuals, families and communities, the extent to which we attribute the conditions of poor and minority inner city communities to drug use is just too much.
Posted by Progressive Pupil on July 2, 2012
http://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/crack-dens-houses-heads-and-babies-five-myths-of-the-crack-cocaine-epidemic-2/
Crack Dens, Houses, Heads and Babies: Five Myths of the Crack Cocaine Epidemic
The mythology of the crack cocaine epidemic misdirects the devastation of persistent social inequities to cautionary tales of crack houses, crack heads and crack babies. Yet the emergence of myth is a predictable response within a society that too often places the blame on those victimized by social marginalization. While there is no doubt that crack cocaine use has devastating effects on individuals, families and communities, the extent to which we attribute the conditions of poor and minority inner city communities to drug use is just too much.
Posted by Progressive Pupil on March 12, 2012
http://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/crack-dens-houses-heads-and-babies-five-myths-of-the-crack-cocaine-epidemic/
