March 8, 2012 | 3:58 PM | By

Lawsuit pushes voting rights for felons

FILED UNDER: Politics, Realignment

By Nicole Jones

A lawsuit filed Wednesday by lawyers for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and two other nonprofits aims to protect the voting rights of thousands of convicted California felons.

Currently, convicted felons who are serving time in state prison or who are on parole cannot vote under California law. But the lawsuit, filed at the First District Court of Appeal,  claims this does not apply to felons who serve their sentences in county jails. Last fall, California realigned the criminal justice system, transferring the custody of low-level felons to county supervision to help reduce overcrowding in state prisons.

In December, Secretary of State Debra Bowen sent a memorandum to local registrars that these Californians cannot vote, whether they are in state prison or in a county facility, because county supervision is equivalent to parole.

“If we can send people all the way to Afghanistan to fight for the rights of people to vote inside of a prison,” said Dorsey Nunn, Executive Director for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, “it looks crazy to me that we would deny people the right to vote in the jail in Bakersfield or in the jail of San Diego.”

The groups argue that under the California Constitution and the precedence set in League of Women Voters v. McPherson, these citizens have the right to vote because they are not in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Before 1974, people convicted with felonies were excluded for life from voting. But that changed after voters passed Proposition 10, which amended the California Constitution to expand the voting rights of citizens with convictions.  The initiative granted voting rights to all except those “imprisoned or on parole for the conviction of a felony.”

Jory Steele, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, said voting rights is also about racial justice, adding that African Americans make up 6.2% of California’s population, and 29% of the prison population.

Steele said the case needs to be settled in time to ensure eligible voters meet the October registration deadline for the November 2012 election.

  • Theygetitall

    Why not, they get everything else.  Free rent, free medical, free electric, free food and clothing.  A Pretty Phych Doctor to talk to if they need a crying sholder.  A smile on all their faces, even hollywood loves an inmate.

  • Anonymous

     You have no idea what prison is like, but if you envy criminals in state prison so much, why don’t you join them?

    Free rent:  Controlled access to a steel plate with a 1 inch thick broken down mattress that is less wide than a standard twin bed.  Oh, and you can not go where you want and you share the toilet with an average of 54 other inmates, same with the shower.  No doors separate you from the next naked person.

    Free medical.  When you want medical assistance you can call your doc, go to an urgent clinic or show up at an emergency room.  California inmates were dying at the rate of 1 per week because of the inability to get emergency or basic medical care.  The current system works like this.  Have a health problem, fill out a form.  The prison medical staff has 14 days to respond.  If they don’t respond in 14 days you file an appeal and then they have 15 days to respond, and if they don’t respond in 15 days (and you are still sick or alive) you can write a second level appeal where they have 30 days to respond.  If they don’t respond in 30 days you can file a 3rd level appeal where they have 60 days to respond.  However, anywhere along the line, if they feel your appeal is complicated they can extend the time by notifying you in writing.  Free medical care. Ha.

    Free electric:  Rarely do any California prisons have climate control.  Inmates may have access to an electrical outlet.  They can pay $30.00 for a 6″ fan that helps when the temperature exceeds 80, 90 or 100 degrees. This is California, it happens regularly.  Oh, and the water in the toilet bowls have been known to freeze for the same reason.

    Free food:  Yep, supposedly it is both nutritious and edible, both claims are questionable but rarely will it kill you and it doesn’t taste all that bad once you get used to it.  I suggest you go onto the CDCR website and duplicate the meals for yourself.  Good luck finding the vendors to supply you with the junk they put on the plates.  Thankfully, it is food, though.

    Free Clothing:  You are allowed 2 pair of  unisex pants, 4 pair of boxers, 4 pair of socks, 3 T-shirts, a pair of work boots, 2 unisex pullover shirts and a jacket.  There is no guarantee of quality, most of the above have holes in them and exchanges never guarantee better luck.  Laundry is done once a week (now go back and count what they allow you).  I suggest you try that wardrobe for a month.  Please get the clothing at the Salvation Army, don’t pay for it, take what they throw away every week.

    “A Pretty Phych Doctor to talk to if they need a crying sholder”:  Ok, so you can spell as well as most inmates.  Good.  There are no pretty psych doctors.  Inmates with mental problems rarely get their medicine consistently.  Asking to talk to a psych is like getting the free medical as I discussed above.  But hey, the ability to think that there may be a psych doctor somewhere in your prison is free.  Bet that counts for you, huh?

    You apparently watch too much Hollywood Inmate Films.  I bet you believe in alien planets where everyone is blue and has a tail too, since you believe in prison films.

    My point is this.  Criminals have committed crimes and must, according to the laws and regulations you voted for, do their time.  During that time they are under the custody and care of the state and covered by the US constitution, just like you are.  Once they have done their time, they return to YOUR neighborhood where they lived before going to prison.  How badly you want to treat them before they return home will pretty much relate to how they behave when they get out.  Prison has never, ever been considered a deterrent to crime, it is society’s punishment for crime.  Be careful what you ask for, because time and time again, penology has proven that the worse you treat your imprisoned criminals, the worse they will end up when they are released.  Kind of like child abuse, isn’t it?

  • http://www.facebook.com/prettystephlove Stephanie Kaye Lopez

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