Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
02/22/2007 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB21 | |
| SB43 | |
| SB7 | |
| SB35 | |
| SB36 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 7 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 35 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 36 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | HB 21 | ||
| = | SB 43 | ||
SB 7-FELONS' RIGHT TO VOTE
CHAIR McGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 7.
9:18:00 AM
SENATOR BETTYE DAVIS, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB 7,
said her aide would introduce the bill.
THOMAS OBERMEYER, staff to Senator Bettye Davis, described the
bill as an opportunity for a second chance to reenter society
for felons. It is of great significance to Alaska because there
are over 5,000 felons who have been disenfranchised and a great
many are minorities, which should bring cause for alarm. He read
a statement from Justice Marshall, as follows:
It is doubtful whether a state can demonstrate either
a compelling or rational policy interest in denying
former felons the right to vote. Ex-offenders have
already paid their debt to society. They are as much
affected by the actions of government as any other
citizen and have as much of a right to participate in
governmental decision making. Furthermore, the denial
of a right to vote to such persons is hindrance to the
efforts of society to rehabilitate former felons and
convert them into law abiding and productive citizens.
MR. OBERMEYER said some states allow felons to always vote, but
SB 7 just asks that felons be allowed to vote once they are
released from prison instead of waiting until after probation
and parole. It would require some change in the Department of
Corrections (DOC) and the Division of Elections to recognize
those affected by the bill. There are 5.5 million people
prohibited from voting in the United States now. "These people
are coming back to society…America is the land of second chance,
and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should
lead to a better life." He noted that 47 percent of those
incarcerated in Alaska are Alaska Native and 11 percent are
African American. This is the last form of disenfranchisement in
the United States. Alaska's laws weren't enacted in a
discriminatory process so are likely constitutional, he said.
9:22:47 AM
CHAIR McGUIRE surmised that the bill doesn't allow a felon to
vote while in prison. She asked what district they would vote
in, and she assumed it would be wherever they took up residency.
MR. OBERMEYER spoke with the Division of Elections and the
lieutenant governor and said it could be done simply and without
added costs. Instructions could be put on a website.
CHAIR McGUIRE asked why the original law was enacted.
MR. OBERMEYER said Alaska likely followed what other states did.
He said two states allow felons to vote all the time, some
states use the language in SB 7, about 21 states have the same
law Alaska has, and some never allow felons to vote. He said
some felons in Alaska don't know they are allowed to vote after
probation. He said 600,000 felons re-enter society every year.
9:26:32 AM
CHAIR McGUIRE made a comment about non-felons who don't vote.
She said she couldn't see why those who have paid their debt to
society shouldn't be allowed to vote.
MR. OBERMEYER said disenfranchisement has a long history, but
society is now rejecting practices that were formally accepted.
9:27:39 AM
SENATOR GREEN said she can't support this at all. The sentence
comprises probation and parole when the felon is still under
certain obligations. The loss of the ability to vote is part of
the conviction, and it isn't over when they walk out the door.
SENATOR FRENCH said this is difficult. He is a former prosecutor
and knows it is not easy to get convicted of a felony. He asked
about how it will work for Alaska, and where the statistic of
5,000 felons comes from.
MR. OBERMEYER said he wasn't sure but about 47% are Native and
11 percent are African American. He said the Division of
Elections doesn't oppose the bill. In response to Senator Green
that this is part of the sentence, "it's my understanding that
in the past there was opposition by the Department of
Corrections because so many of these people were recidivists and
they didn't want to go through the aggravation of trying to
reestablish them on the rolls." It will be simpler with
electronic data use. He said recidivism is a problem because of
drug use, and there needs to be rehabilitation in the medical
community and not just in prison. This is just one step in
encouraging people to get back in society.
CHAIR McGUIRE asked if someone on probation would be a "bad
voter." Some restrictions make sense, like contacting a victim
or drinking, but encouraging positive things, like getting an
education or voting-"I just can't see the other side of it."
9:32:32 AM
MR. OBERMEYER said a past argument is that felons would vote
liberal.
CHAIR McGUIRE said she is trying to understand the policy.
SENATOR DAVIS asked if Senator French wanted more information.
SENATOR FRENCH said he wants to hear from the DOC to learn how
many people this will affect.
SENATOR DAVIS said the department was contacted.
9:34:39 AM
JASON HOOLEY, Special Assistant, Office of Lieutenant Governor,
said he is testifying for Whitney Brewster, the director of the
Division of Elections. He said the division is not opposed to
the bill. He asked how the DOC intends to notify the division
when a voter has been incarcerated for a felony of moral
turpitude and when individuals are released from prison so they
can restore voting rights. He explained, in detail, the current
process and the difficulties of information exchange between the
DOC and the division. He noted that the committee substitute
makes an important change in Section 1, which specifies that the
DOC should funnel all notifications through the director.
9:40:11 AM
SENATOR FRENCH made a motion to adopt the committee substitute
labeled, 25-LS0100\M, Bullard, as the working document. Hearing
no objection, version M was before the committee.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said it is disturbing that some who should be able
to vote still don't have that right because the information is
not transmitted in a timely manner.
MR. HOOLEY said that is disturbing to his division as well.
9:41:27 AM
SENATOR FRENCH said it seems that the division should be wildly
enthusiastic about this bill because of the clear distinction of
a person behind bars and one who is not.
SENATOR GREEN asked if a felony involving moral turpitude is the
only one that is restored and not the lesser felonies.
MR. HOOLEY said the lesser felonies don't fall under the moral
turpitude label and don't lose the right to vote.
SENATOR FRENCH asked for the list of the lessor felonies.
MR. HOOLEY said felonies of moral turpitude are felonies that
are wrong in and of themselves--murder and assault for example.
9:43:33 AM
CHAIR McGUIRE asked the other testifiers to confine their
remarks to those that have not yet been made.
9:44:21 AM
MICHAEL MACLEOD-BALL, Executive Director, American Civil
Liberties Union of Alaska (ACLU), said he submitted testimony.
He asked the committee to think about who would get the right to
vote as a result of SB 7. The Alaska constitution has a specific
right of reform, which the courts have interpreted to include a
right to rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is what incarceration is
attempting to do, he stated. Parole and probation comes when
someone plays by the rules and they ought to get the small
reward of voting. "That's all part of this grand scheme that we
have to try to reintegrate these offenders into society." He
added that "if it's deemed to be better for society that
somebody is reintegrated into society at a particular point in
the sentence, shouldn't we also include with that the right to
participate in civil society through the franchise?"
9:48:53 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked how many individuals have been released and
are still on probation or parole in Alaska.
DWAYNE PEEPLES, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Corrections,
said there are 5,546 as of February.
SENATOR FRENCH asked for the average length of probation or
parole and what kind of felonies occurred.
MR. PEEPLES said he will get that information to him.
CHAIR McGUIRE said the felonies of moral turpitude matter most
to this bill. The list includes rioting, procession of gambling
records, and "all kinds of things." She asked for that
information and for demographic information.
MR. PEEPLES said locations are tracked, and he will try to
develop a matrix by the seriousness of the crimes.
9:51:26 AM
DENISE MORRIS, Alaska Native Justice Center, noted she would fax
her memorandum. She said that Alaska's current restriction on
felony voting is limited to felonies of moral turpitude;
however, the definition is designed by statute and includes
almost all felonies. The theft of something worth over $499 is a
felony. Most assault cases and misconduct involving a controlled
substance are felonies. Many individuals don't commit crimes
against people, but the crime is a felony nonetheless.
Restrictions on voting rights impact Natives more. Alaska
Natives constitute 16 percent of the state, but they account for
37 percent of the prisoners. Cultural factors make Natives more
susceptible to felony disenfranchisement, she said. Restoring
voting rights is an important element to an individual's
reintegration back into the community. She said there is some
indication that voting reduces recidivism. One study found that
27 percent of nonvoters were rearrested, compared with 12
percent of voters. A recent report by the Alaska Judicial
Council showed that recidivism rates were greatly reduced for
individuals who went through the therapeutic court. A condition
of parole or probation should even require the registration to
vote. She concluded by saying that the Alaska Native Justice
Center supports lessening the restrictions on felony
disenfranchisement, specifically voting rights, which will bring
Alaska into the modern national trend.
9:57:02 AM
ALONZO PATTERSON, Former Parole Board Chair, said he served on
the parole board for 12 years and he is involved with the
Baptist Church, MLK Foundation, and Alaska Black Leadership
Conference. He supports SB 7, and he has been involved with
issuing parole releases and probation recidivism. He has looked
at the recidivism rates and the disparity in sentencing. The
disparity begins long before the person is released from prison.
When releasing people, the message is a restoration of their
rights, but when the voting rights aren't included it is a
farce. Those people can develop an attitude of hopelessness, and
recidivism levels rise. It is difficult for these people to get
jobs. Looking at the greatest number of people in the
institution doesn't indicate discrimination, but "it is
culturally impacting because if you have a greater number of
minorities in the institution, then you have a greater number of
people being impacted in that culture based on the fact that
they are not able to have their voting rights." He encouraged
the committee to strongly support SB 7.
MR. PATTERSON said the problem of going in and out of jail could
mean that a person could spend 20 years trying to serve a 5-year
term, "and that recycling process can put your voting rights off
a long time." He added, "One's right to vote is one's right to
vote whether one votes liberal or whatever. That is a part of
their right as a citizen." Denying the right to vote creates an
attitude that overcrowds the prison system. He said he works
with some of these people as a chaplain, and allowing them to
vote and fully participate as citizens of Alaska removes an
obstacle from their intended rehabilitation.
10:01:47 AM
DR. WILLIAM GREENE, President, NAACP Alaska, said he has worked
with Mr. Patterson for 25 years and has seen a lot of change in
inmate life. The bill is part of making them whole and feel like
they are a part of society once again. Voting rights give the
indication that persons are accepted back into society and not
outcasts. Passing the legislation will make the community
better, he stated.
DANIEL LEVITAS, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, Atlanta,
Georgia, said his work focuses specifically on voter
disenfranchisement. He has submitted testimony. He said there
are 11,132 Alaskans who are disfranchised as a result of felony
convictions. There is a distinction in the law between felonies
and felonies of moral turpitude, but mostly everyone convicted
of a felony in Alaska ends up being disfranchised. He said he
was pleasantly surprised that the Division of Election makes an
effort to fully enfranchise those people who haven't committed
so-called moral turpitude crimes, but that system isn't fully
efficient. Data from 2004 show more than half of these people
are out working in the community: 5,000 on felony probation and
927 on parole. These people would be enfranchised through SB 7.
There are 20 states that treat felony offenders less harshly
than Alaska, and 13 states are considering this same change.
This bill will eliminate a tremendous amount of the bureaucratic
paperwork complications that disenfranchise people because no
one knows their status.
MR. LEVITAS said here have been few studies, but one shows a
clear link between voting behavior and lower re-arrest rates.
The problems in the notification system would be fixed by SB 7,
he concluded. Registration instructions and eligibility can be
handed to people as they walk out of prison.
10:08:59 AM
CAROL KAPLAN, National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), said the NAACP "logic is simple: by
allowing individuals to invest in their community through the
electoral process, they are more likely to feel a sense of
ownership and become productive members of that society and less
likely to return to…anti-social destructive behavior that led to
their previous incarceration."
CHAIR McGUIRE asked the will of the committee.
SENATOR FRENCH moved to report the CS for SB 7, labeled, 25-
LS0100\M, from committee with individual recommendations and
attached fiscal note(s). There being no objection, CSSB 7(STA)
moved from committee.
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