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Democracy Restoration Act of 2009 Hearing Committee

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Democracy Restoration Act of 2009 Hearing Committee DEMOCRACY RESTORATION ACT OF 2009 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON H.R. 3335 MARCH 16, 2010 Serial No. 111–84 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 55–480 PDF WASHINGTON : 2010 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Aug 31 2005 15:37 Jun 09, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\WORK\CONST\031610\55480.000 HJUD1 PsN: 55480 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan, Chairman HOWARD L. BERMAN, California LAMAR SMITH, Texas RICK BOUCHER, Virginia F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., JERROLD NADLER, New York Wisconsin ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina ELTON GALLEGLY, California ZOE LOFGREN, California BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California MAXINE WATERS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia STEVE COHEN, Tennessee STEVE KING, Iowa HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., TRENT FRANKS, Arizona Georgia LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas PEDRO PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico JIM JORDAN, Ohio MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois TED POE, Texas JUDY CHU, California JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois TOM ROONEY, Florida TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin GREGG HARPER, Mississippi CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York ADAM B. SCHIFF, California LINDA T. SA´ NCHEZ, California DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida DANIEL MAFFEI, New York [Vacant] PERRY APELBAUM, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel SEAN MCLAUGHLIN, Minority Chief of Staff and General Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chairman MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia Wisconsin WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts TOM ROONEY, Florida HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., STEVE KING, Iowa Georgia TRENT FRANKS, Arizona TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan JIM JORDAN, Ohio STEVE COHEN, Tennessee SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas JUDY CHU, California DAVID LACHMANN, Chief of Staff PAUL B. TAYLOR, Minority Counsel (II) VerDate Aug 31 2005 15:37 Jun 09, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 0486 H:\WORK\CONST\031610\55480.000 HJUD1 PsN: 55480 C O N T E N T S MARCH 16, 2010 Page THE BILL H.R. 3335, the ‘‘Democracy Restoration Act of 2009’’ ........................................... 3 OPENING STATEMENTS The Honorable Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, and acting Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitu- tion, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties ................................................................ 1 The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Wisconsin, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties .................................................. 14 The Honorable Steve Cohen, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Tennessee, and Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties .................................................................................. 15 WITNESSES Mr. Hilary O. Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 17 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 20 Mr. Roger Clegg, President and General Counsel, Center for Equal Oppor- tunity, Falls Church, VA Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 23 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 25 Mr. Burt Neuborne, Inez Milholland Professor of Civil Liberties, New York University School of Law, New York, NY Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 37 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 39 Mr. Hans A. von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 50 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 52 Mr. Carl Wicklund, Executive Director, American Probation and Parole Asso- ciation, Lexington, KY Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 59 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 61 Mr. Ion Sancho, Supervisor of Elections Leon County, Tallahassee, FL Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 65 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 68 Mr. Andres Idarraga, Central Falls, RI Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 71 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 74 APPENDIX Material Submitted for the Hearing Record .......................................................... 105 (III) VerDate Aug 31 2005 15:37 Jun 09, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\WORK\CONST\031610\55480.000 HJUD1 PsN: 55480 VerDate Aug 31 2005 15:37 Jun 09, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\WORK\CONST\031610\55480.000 HJUD1 PsN: 55480 DEMOCRACY RESTORATION ACT OF 2009 TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2010 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:06 p.m., in room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, acting Chairman of the Subcommittee presiding. Present: Representatives Scott, Conyers, Watt, Cohen, Jackson Lee, Chu, Sensenbrenner, and Franks. Staff present: (Majority) Keenan Keller, Counsel; David Lachman, Subcommittee Chief of Staff; and (Minority) Paul Taylor, Minority Counsel. Mr. SCOTT. The Subcommittee will come to order. Today, the Subcommittee examines one of the cornerstones of our democracy, the right to vote in a free and fair election. That right is denied an estimated 5.3 million Americans because of felony con- victions. As many as four million of these have already completed their sentences. Chairman Conyers of the full Committee has introduced legisla- tion to deal with that problem. H.R. 3335, the ‘‘Democracy Restora- tion Act of 2009,’’ of which I am a proud sponsor, would restore the franchise of people who have paid their debt to society. Disenfranchisement has real consequences. Although this Com- mittee has been in the forefront of efforts to reintegrate ex-offend- ers into society, these disenfranchisement laws stand as a major impediment to that important goal. Excluding people who have paid their debts to society from the mainstream of our Nation serves no useful purpose, but it does un- dermine the legitimacy of our elections and runs against our goals of returning people to the community and helping them leave be- hind the wrongdoing of their past. In the last Congress, President Bush signed the Second Chance Act. It represents a bipartisan recognition that we must do more to reintegrate ex-offenders into the community. Voting rights legis- lation is an important step in that direction. This Committee was also the driving force behind the extension of the Voting Rights Act, which stands as a crowning achievement in this Nation’s march to full participation in our democracy. Un- fortunately, we still have work to do. Not only are ex-offenders disenfranchised, but efforts to purge ex-offenders from the rolls (1) VerDate Aug 31 2005 15:37 Jun 09, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CONST\031610\55480.000 HJUD1 PsN: 55480 2 have resulted in thousands of qualified voters losing their right to vote. Confusion over these laws—for example, whether they apply to people on probation or parole, or whether misdemeanors may be in- volved—and criminal penalties for people who get it wrong intimi- dates people with every right to vote from exercising that right. Disenfranchisement of ex-offenders has a disproportionate impact on minority communities. Nationwide, 13 percent of African Ameri- cans have lost their right to vote, and that is seven times the na- tional average. In eight States, more than 15 percent of African Americans cannot vote due to felony convictions, and in three of those States, more than 20 percent of the African American voting age population has lost the right to vote. These statistics have consequences far beyond the rights of the disenfranchised individual. It can marginalize the entire
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