Jeffrey D. Sadow is an associate professor of political science at Louisiana State University Shreveport. If you're an elected official, political operative or anyone else upset at his views, don't go bothering LSUS or LSU System officials about that because these are his own views solely. This publishes five days weekly with the exception of 7 holidays. Also check out his Louisiana Legislature Log especially during legislative sessions (in "Louisiana Politics Blog Roll" below).
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22.3.17
Strengthen, don't weaken, laws against felons voting
Contrary to the sentiments of a state judge, if
anything Louisiana needs to make more stringent its jurisprudence addressing
the ability of felons to vote.
Last week, 19th District Court Judge
Tim Kelley reluctantly upheld
a state law that prohibits felons from registering to vote so long as,
according to Art. I
Sec. 10 of the Constitution, they remain “under an order of imprisonment
for conviction of a felony.” The subsequent law clarified this to
include people under probation and on parole, as technically they may return to
prison if they violate any conditions attached to these.
Kelley reaffirmed, yet expressed sympathy for the
plaintiffs challenging the law who called it unfair. But, in fact, the law
serves a vital purpose as both a deterrent to crime and a means to improve the
quality of decision-making in a democracy.
Louisiana’s position mirrors
that of the majority of states. About half as many hold to what the case’s
plaintiffs desired, restoration of the right to vote after leaving
incarceration. Two states allow felons to vote even while in prison. The
remaining nine require some action, such as from a governor or court, to
restore voting rights even after completion of the entire sentence.
Louisiana should strive to become the tenth such
state. Stripping people of voting rights while serving a sentence as part of
the penalty adds another factor discouraging people from committing crime.
While very few individuals, when contemplating whether they should engage in criminal
behavior, would consider jeopardy of their right to vote as something relevant
or at risk regarding their choices, every bit helps in making people think
crime doesn’t pay. Even if just one rare individual abjured from attempting crime
as a result, such laws pay off.
Consider as well how the quality of governance
improves by disallowing felons the right to vote. In committing a felony, a
person has declared war on the rest of society, placing himself above all
others through claiming greater rights and privileges. Why should society trust
such a person in trying to govern for the benefit of all, or believe that such
a person has adequate judgment to make wise governance decisions?
Consequently, automatic restoration of voting
rights after sentence completion does not ameliorate these undesirable aspects,
for some who regain voting rights still will harbor the same inferior attitude
that they reside above the law. This calls for some kind of administrative
review to determine whether an ex-convict has shed this delusion, regardless of
whether having finished a sentence.
Thus, Louisiana needs to incorporate this element
to its voting rights philosophy. A procedure akin to the gubernatorial pardon
process could require anybody, in or out of prison, who ever committed a felony
to petition the governor for restoration of voting rights. Much like a pardon,
if presenting evidence of sufficient character reformation, a felon could
regain voting rights with the assent of the governor, not automatically.
Elements wanting Louisiana to relax its standard
likely do so for political reasons – even as people
with felony records vote at much lower levels than the population as a whole,
given the disproportionate incidence of blacks among felons and in their voting
for Democrats, leftist interests believe they can harvest disproportionately
more votes for their favored candidates by taking this step backwards. However,
the superior crime deterrence and governance that would result from toughening
the standard compels for amending the Constitution in that direction.
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