We operate from the knowledge that the communities most devastated by the prison industrial complex will be centrally located in any work that will truly transform the system. We use this framework to inform both the public and policymakers about the realities of mass incarceration and change the national dialogue around solutions. VOTE focuses on the following top four policy priorities (download here).
#1: VOTING RIGHTS FOR ALL PEOPLE LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY
Issue: Louisiana’s 1974 constitution allows the state to suspend voting rights for people “under order of imprisonment.” The legislature later defined that as people on probation and/or parole. The state is currently disenfranchising 45,000 people in prison and 70,000 people living in the community.
Solutions: We filed VOTE v. Louisiana to debate the true definition of “under order of imprisonment.” We believe that the Legislature exceeded their power under the constitution, and that the Secretary of State and Governor are enforcing an unconstitutional law. We believe that every citizen living in the community should have a voice in the laws and people that govern them. While our lawsuit lost at the Louisiana Supreme Court, it sent a powerful message: we won't back down.
In May 2018, VOTE members and allies fought hard to pass House Bill 265. Now Act 636, this new law restored voting rights to approximately 43,000 people on probation and parole on March 1, 2019. Read more about this historic victory and find out if you are now eligible to vote. To get involved in our upcoming voting rights efforts, sign up for our mailing list.
Solutions: We filed VOTE v. Louisiana to debate the true definition of “under order of imprisonment.” We believe that the Legislature exceeded their power under the constitution, and that the Secretary of State and Governor are enforcing an unconstitutional law. We believe that every citizen living in the community should have a voice in the laws and people that govern them. While our lawsuit lost at the Louisiana Supreme Court, it sent a powerful message: we won't back down.
In May 2018, VOTE members and allies fought hard to pass House Bill 265. Now Act 636, this new law restored voting rights to approximately 43,000 people on probation and parole on March 1, 2019. Read more about this historic victory and find out if you are now eligible to vote. To get involved in our upcoming voting rights efforts, sign up for our mailing list.
#2: SENTENCING, BAIL, AND Parole ReformS
Issues: Most arrests result in either a dismissal of charges or a sentence of community supervision. While the bulk of incarcerated individuals are sentenced between ages 17 and 25, the backlog of prison populations is aging, ailing, low-risk, with spiraling medical costs. Three Strikes laws are costly and ineffective, particularly for older people whose extreme sentence becomes a death sentence. In addition, most probation and parole violations occur in the first year following release. This wastes resources and reinforces the burdens associated with incarceration.
Solutions: We must reform systemic issues with sentencing, bail, community supervision, Good-Time Credits, and parole, and apply them to all incarcerated individuals. Eliminating “held without bail” rules will provide quicker and more affordable release, easing the loss of jobs, housing, and relationships, thus keeping families together. We must ban mandatory minimums and end habitual offender (i.e. "three strikes") laws, instead making “deferment” a first option for first convictions. We believe in ending all life without parole sentencing, and creating one parole law requiring the parole board to eventually consider every incarcerated person. To learn more about our sentencing reform efforts, contact checo@vote-nola.org.
Solutions: We must reform systemic issues with sentencing, bail, community supervision, Good-Time Credits, and parole, and apply them to all incarcerated individuals. Eliminating “held without bail” rules will provide quicker and more affordable release, easing the loss of jobs, housing, and relationships, thus keeping families together. We must ban mandatory minimums and end habitual offender (i.e. "three strikes") laws, instead making “deferment” a first option for first convictions. We believe in ending all life without parole sentencing, and creating one parole law requiring the parole board to eventually consider every incarcerated person. To learn more about our sentencing reform efforts, contact checo@vote-nola.org.
#3: Ban the Box on all job, housing, and education applications
Issue: To support full participation in the community, people need employment, housing, and education. Fair and reliable access to these three pillars creates stronger communities, yet people with criminal convictions face immense barriers to a genuine second chance.
Solutions: The “previous felony convictions” checkbox is a type of discrimination we must remove from not only all employment applications – public and private – but also from applications for housing, education, volunteering opportunities, civic engagement, and more. To get involved in our housing justice efforts, contact kiana@vote-nola.org.
Solutions: The “previous felony convictions” checkbox is a type of discrimination we must remove from not only all employment applications – public and private – but also from applications for housing, education, volunteering opportunities, civic engagement, and more. To get involved in our housing justice efforts, contact kiana@vote-nola.org.
#4: effective reentry programming
Issue: Approximately 17,000 people are released annually from Louisiana’s prisons. Trust and goodwill are essential traits to supporting successful reentry. Current programs are structured primarily around the monitoring reentry model which closely controls the movements and activities of a formerly incarcerated person. Parole officers with the power of imprisonment provide this supervision, which can be fee-driven and based on punishment.
Solutions: Develop supportive reentry programs that effectively create a culture of positive reinforcement and provide opportunities from people with a personal stake in positive community building. If you have been directly impacted by the criminal (in)justice system and have ideas for effective reentry, contact us at admin@vote-nola.org!
VOTE also helped form the Justice Reinvestment Task Force Recommendations. Read the Full Report, Testimony, and Bill Primer.
Solutions: Develop supportive reentry programs that effectively create a culture of positive reinforcement and provide opportunities from people with a personal stake in positive community building. If you have been directly impacted by the criminal (in)justice system and have ideas for effective reentry, contact us at admin@vote-nola.org!
VOTE also helped form the Justice Reinvestment Task Force Recommendations. Read the Full Report, Testimony, and Bill Primer.
THE 2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION JUST FINISHED. CHECK OUT OUR BILL TRACKER.
