In his April 22nd Town Hall on CNN, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders expressed his unwavering support for the right to vote for all adult citizens. He reiterates that there should be no excluded group in our democracy, and that as soon as you start excluding groups it becomes a slippery slope.

It could serve as a sign of progress that a front-and-center presidential candidate is expressing this idea. Recall that, particularly in 2016, many of Bernie Sanders’ ideas were considered fringe. Despite his loss, much of his platform was subsequently adopted by the mainstream left and the Democratic Party. This includes criminal justice reforms which we have seen move from impossible to probable and even reality in the last few years. If history repeats itself, regardless of whether Sanders wins the primary or general election, we will hopefully see his progressive criminal justice reform ideas become more pervasive in U.S. political discourse.

Video source: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/04/23/felony-voting-rights-bernie-sanders-town-hall-bts-vpx.cnn

Full town hall video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADkxdxxX5qo

Segment Transcript

QUESTION: Senator Sanders, you have said that you believe that people with felony records should be allowed to vote while in prison. Does this mean that you would support enfranchising people like the Boston Marathon bomber, a convicted terrorist and murderer? Do you think that those convicted of sexual assault should have the opportunity to vote for politicians who could have a direct impact on women’s rights?

SANDERS: OK, thank you for the question, Anne. And let me just say this. What our campaign is about and what I believe is creating a vibrant democracy. Today, as you may know, we have one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on Earth. I want to see us have one of the highest voter turnouts.

[21:05:00]

And by the way, what we’re seeing is more young people getting involved in the political process, but not enough. And in my view, if young people voted at the same percentage that older people voted in this country, we would transform this nation.

But to get to your point, we live in a moment where cowardly Republican governors are trying to suppress the vote. And in fact, right here, as you may know, in New Hampshire, the legislature and the governor are working hard to make it more difficult for young people to vote. And to me, that is an incredibly undemocratic, un-American process. And I say to those people, by the way, if you don’t have the guts to participate in free and fair elections, you should get another job and get out of politics, all right? So we’ve got to…

(APPLAUSE)

So here is — Anne, to answer your question, as it happens, in my own state of Vermont, from the very first days of our state’s history, what our Constitution says is that everybody can vote. That is true. So people in jail can vote.

Now, here is my view. If somebody commits a serious crime, sexual assault, murder, they’re going to be punished. They may be in jail for 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, their whole lives. That’s what happens when you commit a serious crime.

But I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy, yes, even for terrible people, because once you start chipping away and you say, well, that guy committed a terrible crime, not going to let him vote. Oh, that person did that, not going to let that person vote. You’re running down a slippery slope.

So I believe that people commit crimes, they paid the price. When they get out of jail, I believe they certainly should have the right to vote. But I do believe that even if they are in jail they’re paying their price to society, but that should not take away their inherent American right to participate in our democracy.

(APPLAUSE)

CUOMO: Applause for the answer. My follow question goes to this being like you’re writing an opposition ad against you by saying you think the Boston Marathon bomber should vote not after he pays his debt to society, but while he’s in jail. You sure about that?

SANDERS: Well, Chris, I think I have written many 30-second opposition ads throughout my life. This will be just another one. But I do believe, look, you know, this is what I believe. Do you believe in democracy? Do you believe that every single American 18 years of age or older who’s an American citizen has the right to vote?

Once you start chipping away at that, believe me, that’s what our Republican governors all over this country are doing. They come up with all kinds of excuses while people of color, young people, poor people can’t vote, and I will do everything I can to resist it. This is a democracy. We’ve got to expand that democracy, and I believe every single person does have the right to vote.

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Judging by the oral arguments, at least one member of the Supreme Court seemed quite ready to rule in favor of Baumgartel’s position.

 

“The specific statutory section dealing with pre-enactment offenders says unambiguously that the Attorney General decides whether, how, when, and who, even who. So you don’t even know if you’re going to be subject to this law,” observed Justice Neil Gorsuch. “We say that vague criminal laws must be stricken,” Gorsuch continued. “What’s vaguer than a blank check to the Attorney General of the United States to determine who he’s going to prosecute?”

 

“That’s your argument stated very, very concisely,” interjected Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking to Baumgartel. Indeed it was.

A few minutes after that, Justice Sonia Sotomayor stepped in to support Gorsuch’s line of questioning. “I think a fundamental issue that Justice Gorsuch has been aiming at is—especially in criminal law—is it just to delegate to the Attorney General a fundamental question about who gets covered or doesn’t get covered by a statute? That,” she told the principal deputy solicitor general, “seems like at the core of what a law is.”

Please read the article in its entirety here: SOURCE

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Similar “victim’s rights” laws have been introduced in a handful of states, usually with the all-to-familiar beguiling victim-name-title (“Marsy’s Law”) which for many, especially those in the registrant community, will sound all too familiar (Walsh, Lunsford, et al.).

The problem is that the intent and, more importantly, consequences, both direct and indirect, of these laws has not been made clear enough to voters. To make matters worse, the initiative has been bundled with others which are not inherently related, causing added confusion and a conflict for those who would support one initiative but not the other.

“It is a terrible idea to bundle disparate measures together in a ballot initiative, even if they are loosely related as in this case. The bundling denies voters the opportunity to vote on the merits of each of the major legal changes in the amendment, forcing them to accept or deny the good elements with the bad, which can look very much like an attempt to bundle popular measures with unpopular ones to achieve a different electoral outcome than the state would get if the measures were presented to voters individually.” (Florida Ballot Amendment Analysis: Amendment 6. Reason.org)

Civil liberties and Constitution-defense advocacy groups have asserted since the first Marsy’s Law passed in California in 2008, despite almost every major news outlet opposing it, that, while giving victims more rights sounds like something we can all get behind, it is unfortunately not that simple. These laws, they contend, can place victims in a prosecutorial role, trample the rights of defendants, and dilute important Constitutional protections.

“In fact, many of the provisions in Marsy’s Law could actually strengthen the state’s hand against a defendant, undermining a bedrock principle of our legal system — the presumption of innocence.” (‘Victims’ Rights’ Proposals Like Marsy’s Law Undermine Due Process)

Some opponents also point out that victims already have most of these rights, and that there are better ways to enhance victim’s rights where there are concerns.

“There are ways of guaranteeing victim’s rights without making constitutional mistakes. For instance, in New Hampshire, our comprehensive victims’ rights statute preempts conflict between rights by stating that victims’ rights shall be enforced “to the extent . . . they are not inconsistent with the constitutional or statutory rights of the accused.” This language recognizes that victims’ rights may come into conflict with defendants’ rights and that our justice system works only if defendants’ rights against the state are upheld. … Marsy’s Law has no comparable language.” (‘Victims’ Rights’ Proposals Like Marsy’s Law Undermine Due Process)

Now that the initiative is back on the ballot, Sen. Lauren Book made a de facto endorsement in a recent ad buy announcing the initiative. In her ad, she wastes no time making a strong emotional appeal, detailing parts of her tragic childhood sexual assault right in the ad intro. Unfortunately, just as with her involvement in many of these issues, Book’s motivations are questionable given the financial and business connections of her and her father, Ron Book (lobbyist). Those connections are with various corporations in the prison-for-profit industry who will certainly profit from these measures, if passed, and who have shown no restraint in willingness to incarcerate more people for profit under the guise of public safety and justice.

See also:

Leon County judge throws Amendment 6 off Florida ballot.

Florida Division of Elections: Initiatives: Rights of Crime Victims; Judges

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