ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050060
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HOLLY SKLAR
ONE OUT of seven black males of voting age has lost the right to vote because of felony convictions.
While many of these individuals will regain their voting rights after imprisonment, parole or probation, ``the cumulative impact of such large numbers of persons being disenfranchised from the electoral process clearly dilutes the political power of the African-American community,'' says a new report by the Sentencing Project, based in Washington, D.C.
Virginia is one of 13 states that permanently disenfranchise most convicted felons. It doesn't matter if felony offenders work and pay taxes and are model citizens for the rest of their lives. They can't exercise their democratic right to vote.
As reported by the National Criminal Justice Commission, a Virginia legislator ``explained that the criminal disenfranchisement law was passed with a view to the elimination of every Negro voter.'' The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that blacks constitute 19 percent of Virginia's population, but 60 percent of its convicted felons.
The other 12 states that permanently take away the right to vote are Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee and Wyoming. Eighteen states disenfranchise felony offenders while they are on probation or parole. All but four states take away the right to vote during incarceration.
The United States imprisons a greater percentage of its people than any other nation, and that percentage is growing rapidly. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports, ``At year-end 1985, one in every 320 United States residents were incarcerated. By year-end 1995, that ratio had increased to one in every 167.''
Blacks are locked up at a rate nearly eight times that of whites. According to the Sentencing Project, on any given day one out of three black men in their 20s is in prison or jail, on probation or on parole. Many of them are nonviolent, low-level drug offenders who would not have been arrested at all, much less charged with felonies, if they were white.
Three out of four drug users are non-Hispanic whites, but blacks are much more likely to be arrested for drug offenses and receive longer sentences. As the Sentencing Project reports, blacks constitute 13 percent of all past-month drug users, but 35 percent of arrests for drug possession, 55 percent of convictions, and 74 percent of prison sentences.
``There's as much cocaine in the Sears Tower or in the stock exchange as there is in the black community,'' said Commander Charles Ramsey, supervisor of the Chicago Police Department's narcotics division. ``But those guys are harder to catch.''
Police Chief John Dale of Albany, N.Y., said, ``We're locking up kids who are scrambling for crumbs, not the people who make big money.''
Many of them are scrambling for crumbs because they can't find jobs. The black unemployment rate is more than double that of whites.
Marijuana possession, not cocaine, is the leading cause of arrest for drug offenders. In numerous states, possessing, selling or growing even small amounts of marijuana can land you in prison for many more years than the average murderer - and the government can seize your home, farm and other assets.
By government count, about 23 million Americans, mostly white, have used marijuana, cocaine or some other illicit drug in the past year. Many of them would now be convicted felons if the war on drugs evenly targeted blacks and whites.
Let's remove racial bias from the criminal-justice system and truly make our society safer. RAND research shows the long-term crime-reduction value of treatment and prevention. For example, $1 million invested in incentives for disadvantaged students to graduate from high school would result in a reduction of 258 crimes per year compared to 60 crimes a year through building and operating prisons. Crime prevention is the wiser course.
Holly Sklar is a Boston-based writer and the author of ``Chaos or Community? Seeking Solutions, Not Scapegoats for Bad Economics.''
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB