Another jolting stat from Ohio State Law Prof. Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow:
As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised due to felon disenfranchisement laws than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race.
[Will soon post a review of her book to be seen at my blog CREW OF 42].
Another stat from Ohio State Law Prof. Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow:
••• As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised due to felon disenfranchisement laws than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race.
As wacky as Doug Wilder can be, are we sure he does not have a bit of a point on Tim Kaine? Kaine was a great Governor for Virginia but there were two parting moments on his way out the door that were not exactly profiles in courage. He spent the last month explaining how it was that he did not do more to change the trajectory of the failed campaign of Creigh Deeds. Then, when Kaine left office as Governor of Virginia he missed an opportunity to restore voting rights to 300,000 Virginians who were convicted of a felony. Kaine, who is now Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, decided not to issue an Executive Order restoring voting rights for former felons. Instead he left office on January 16 and did nothing. Unless he’s planning to run for President why would it matter that he restored voting rights to 300,000 people who already served their term? Even as a presidential candidate the decision is unlikely to come up.
Nearly 5.3 million people in the U.S. are prohibited from voting, a majority of whom are former convicts who completed their sentences. (source: Human Rights Watch)