One Wisconsin Now

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that a man has been charged for registering to vote and trying to register others after being convicted of a felony. While this specific case may not directly apply, it does bring up some very important questions that we should be asking ourselves. In Wisconsin convicted felons are not allowed to vote until after they have completed the terms of their sentence. That could mean a prison term in addition to a long extended period of supervision.

Convicted felons often have to serve very long periods of probation and/or parole after they leave prison. One of the major goals of this supervision is that they become productive and fully integrate back into society. Exactly how are they supposed to do that if they are barred from voting, one of the most basic rights/responsibilities that we have as citizens? Many of them hold down jobs, pay taxes, provide for their families but still Wisconsin law refuses their right to vote.

According to an ACLU study, 62,324 people with felony convictions in Wisconsin are not allowed to vote; however, 61% of these people are no longer incarcerated. By not allowing them to vote, we are hindering their ability to reinstate themselves as active members of the community. According to Senator Russ Feingold, “…the more doors we close on people trying to rejoin society, the more likely it is we will drive them back to the behaviors we want them to leave behind.”

Wisconsin ’s felony disfranchisement laws are more severe than those of several of its neighboring states. Michigan , Illinois , Indiana and Ohio all automatically restore voting rights upon release from incarceration. Disenfranchisement in Wisconsin also disproportionately affects African American males and other minority populations. The ACLU study found that one out of nine African Americans males are disenfranchised because of Wisconsin ’s ex-offender laws. This statistic places Wisconsin 11th in the nation for the disenfranchisement of African American voters. This is obviously unacceptable and some might even call it Jim Crow, Wisconsin style. It is a disgrace and the current law should be changed.

Marquette Professor John McAdams might be too busy silencing speech to comment, but two more studies have determined that Wisconsin leads the nation in yet another dubious category. The studies found that African Americans in Wisconsin are 42 times more likely than whites to receive prison terms for drug convictions. The stat is the highest racial disparity in drug sentencing in the nation. The studies also found that the City of Milwaukee has the second-highest racial disparity for drug arrests among all major U.S. cities.

The new national studies largely validate an analysis done by the Wisconsin Sentencing Commission last year. At that time, by “creative” use of numbers, John McAdams was able to crow bar his preconceived notions into the data. It was his confused attempt to belittle what are clear disparities in our criminal justice system. When he finally finishes his crusade against a comedian, McAdams will likely turn his biased analysis back to why these racial disparities are no big deal. While he is in the mood to censor stuff, that would be one presentation that I would like to nominate.