RESTORING EX-FELON'S VOTE ANCHORS SOCIETY TO JUSTICE

Over the last several weeks, your editorials have provided sound opinion
and recommendations on critical "bookends" to criminal justice policy.

The editorial Feb. 7 commented that "Rockefeller drug law reform" enacted
by the state Legislature in December should only be a first step in more
widespread changes to those draconian laws. The editorial Feb. 11 urged
restoration of the right to vote to ex-felons. Together, these point to a
new way of anchoring criminal justice policy in reintegration rather than
punishment.

At the front end, a reintegration perspective would use incarceration as a
last resort. Rockefeller drug law reform, for example, would allow for
sentences that promote treatment rather than incarceration.

At the back end, for those persons who commit crimes that still require a
prison sentence, time spent in prison would be focused on ensuring a safe
and productive re-entry. Restoration of voting rights is one piece of that
process.

Overuse of incarceration has a particular impact on African-American and
Latino communities, as your editorial points out. With one in three
African-American young men in the criminal justice system due to what is
now widely recognized as the cumulative racial disparity at every stage of
the criminal justice system (see recent reports by the U.S. Sentencing
Commission and the American Bar Association's Kennedy Commission), the
denial of voting rights because of ex-felon status undermines the
cornerstone of the hard-fought civil rights battles that dominate the
history of our country.

In the 2000 presidential election, more than 4.6 million Americans were
barred from voting because of felon disenfranchisement laws across the
country. The majority of these people were African American and Latino.

The large number of African Americans in our own community who have been
caught up in the criminal justice system not only denies individual voting
rights, but discourages other family members from voting and deprives
children of adult role models of civic engagement.

Voting is our most tangible way of participating as a law-abiding
stakeholder in society. Research shows that when felons are allowed to
vote, it encourages them to avoid further criminal conduct.

The Center for Community Alternatives is proud to be a partner with many
organizations across the country seeking changes in the law on a broad
range of reintegration issues - voting rights, employment rights, access to
public housing, access to higher education. Our Syracuse Recovery Support
Program, led by people who have re-established themselves as productive
members of our community, is available to help people returning from
incarceration.

We host workshops on civic responsibility, and are available to help people
restore their voting rights. Our door is open to those seeking to become
fully reintegrated into our community.

Marsha Weissman is executive director of the Center for Community
Alternatives in Syracuse.