Does Restoration of Voting Rights Reduce Recidivism

in the African American Community?

Lauren Williams

Florida A&M University

Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………3

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….4

Literary Review……………………………………………………………………………………6

Hypothesis……………………..…………………………………………………………………13

Null Hypothesis………………………………………………………………………….13

Definitions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..14

Collection…………….……………………………………………….…………………….……18

Sample Population……………………………………………………………………….18

Analysis/Results………………………………………………………………………….18

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….31

Error………………..………………………………………………………….…………32

References………………………………………………………………………………………..33

Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………36

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of criminals to regain their rights and seeing if this will help reduce recidivism rates. Throughout this paper I will use restoration reduces recidivism in African American communities which will be the main focus of the research paper I will begin with an introduction explaining why this topic is important. I will present you with a literary review which will give you background information on the topic hand. The literary review will give insight on what has and is already happening in both why recidivism is happening and what could be possible causes. Surveys will be conducted and the data from the surveys will be put into the analysis. From the analysis I will interpret the data and give a conclusion from those results.

Keywords: theory, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, variables, population, sample, validity, reliability, type 1 error, recidivism, restoration

Introduction

Imagine not knowing how to do better. Imagine not knowing any other way besides the delinquent way. Finally, the law catches up with you and you get sent to prison which may be exactly what is needed to help you turn around. However, now you’re in the system and if you stay too late at your job you could be violating parole and get sent back to prison. Even worse scenario, you get your life on track and you’re back in the community doing the right thing but now you are deprived the right to vote because of your criminal record. Numerous studies have been conducted on recidivism rates and how to improve them. One factor that should be pointed out is the felons voting rights. How can a person reenter society positively if they can’t regain their voting rights? It makes it hard for one to come back into the community after paying their debts to society and succeed if they can’t have a voice. Another factor that should be pointed out is the felon’s race. A conduction of research on recidivism rates and how basic rights to votes may or may not reduce these rates in the African American community is what this paper will explore. This issue is an important issue because the United States has the most people in prison with 6.8 million (NAACP). According to the National Institute of Justice, 2.3 million are African American and two-thirds of the entire prison population will return to prison within three years. The question proposed after this information should be why?

The problem presented is that too many African Americans are behind bars. A proposal to try to reduce the rate of African Americans behind bars is to restore voting rights of criminals getting out of jail. Usually, when a criminal gets out of prison they have various obstacles to deal with when trying to reenter society. Society already has them labeled as outsiders. Most of the time society will not even want to be acceptant of a criminal getting out of prison. It will be hard for the criminal to enter the work force with a decent job making good money. Giving the ex-criminal a voice is a start in helping them reenter society. Once the criminal gets their voice back in society they will want to keep making positive movements. This will then motivate them to not want to do the deviant things they were once doing and make them continue to push forward with being part of the working community.

Recidivism isn’t a problem just among African American society. The United States holds at least 2.3 million people in prison. Prison rates in the US are the world’s highest, at 724 people per 100,000. While the United States represents about 4.4 percent of the world’s population, it houses around 22 percent of the world’s prisoners.

With the information that is presented, the actual research question will be: Does restoration of voting rights in the African American community reducing recidivism?

Literature Review

In this section will be critical history and events that will help understand where the research in later sections will be arising from. It will contain material that may be the reason behind recidivism, what is already enacted, laws that are already in place, and things that have already taken place to cause the recidivism rates in the African American community.

Many revocations are due to technical violations (Jacobi, T., Richardson, S., & Barr, G., 2014, p.903). Most revocations are just that, technical violations with little to do with new crimes. Once individuals are put out on parole it is set up to institutionalization individuals. Parole can be said to be a great thing but when on parole the slightest thing can put the individual back behind bars causing them more time after parole than before parole. According to Jacobi et al. (2012 p.903) parole doesn’t reduces prison sentences; in fact they can cause recidivism.

For example, a well-known rapper, Robert Williams better known as Meek Mill was sentenced to a minimum of two years due to a parole violation in November. Meek Mill probation violations stem from a 2008 drug and gun conviction, for which he served eight months. Since this incident the rapper has been in and out of Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley’s court for violating probation rule (Izadi, E., 2017). To give a little background, mandatory minimum sentencing says that offenders of violent offenses should serve a predetermined term for a certain crime (Florida Statutes, 2017). It is a law made by legislature to balance out judicial discretion. In meek mills case the minimum time is two years. Meek Mill was previously arrested earlier in the year due to an altercation in an airport but those charges were dropped. Instead of jail time he received community service (which he does without punishment by giving back to his city). This last was arrest fell under “reckless driving”. A video surfaced on social media of the rapper doing stunts on his dirt-bike on Manhattan streets. The video shows that the streets were closed off so the rapper could carry out these stunts for a video he was shooting. However, parole is also to the judge’s discretion. The rapper was charged from this incident even though the city prosecutor didn’t recommend imprisonment, saying Mill has been clean from drugs since January and has shown personal growth since the original crime. Brinkley claimed she gave Mill break after break but he continues to do things to land back in court.

The problem with probation is you can’t mess up or have any room to breathe. Meek Mill “popped a wheely” and in return received two years in prison. Even though the judge could give discretion, as she did previously, she decided he was “a danger to society”. To be just, that was discretion just not in the favor of the rapper. A simple traffic violation will put an parolee back in prison. The thing that made the rapper’s case go viral is that he was doing good and had a few slip ups that should not lead to him going back to prison but because he was out on parole, the slightest thing such as traffic violation would land him back into prison.

According to the NAACP, African American people are incarcerated more than five times the rate than white people. Before concentrating on recidivism, the concentration should be on how 2.3 million people ended up in prison and how 34% of those imprisoned are African American back in 2015 (Criminal Fact Sheet). Really looking into causes of imprisonment almost half a million people are locked up on drug offenses (Wagner, P. and Rabuy, B., 2017). This could date all the way back to the war on drugs. The War on Drugs is a phrase that started a movement in the 1970s. President Nixon officially enacted the “War on Drugs” in 1971 stating that is was “public enemy number one” (Staff, H., 2017). The government initiated movement focused on stopping illegal drug use, distributions, and trade by increasing and enforcing penalties for offenders. To this day the War on Drugs is driving the U.S prison systems growth. Since the movement was enacted in the over the past quarter century drug arrest tripled, putting half a million men and women behind bars for drug related offenses (Race and the war on drugs, 2007). When the government first enacted these laws they targeted drug lords. However, research shows 60 percent of crack cocaine offenders are actually low-level nonviolent street dealers. The government had different sentences for possession or sale of powder cocaine and crack cocaine. Even though they had the same chemical composition, sentencing for crack cocaine was far more punishable than that of powder cocaine. Ironically African Americans were more likely to have possession of or sale crack over whites. This was because crack cocaine was found more in the inner cities where it was easier to do a “buy and bust” carried out by the police officers. Powder Cocaine was found more in higher-income areas where detection and arrest were less likely to happen (Race and the war on drugs, 2007).

Another point that should be focused on before focusing on recidivism is how harsh brown and black people get harder punishment than white people. Back around the time the war on drugs began the United States criminal justice system allowed the police, prosecutors, judges and parole board to have more discretion in handling criminal cases than they do now (Petersilia, 1985 p.15). Back when this research was being conducted Petersilia stated that black people made up only 12% of the United States population but 48% of the prison population. In the United States white people counted for 86% of the population while black people made up 12% and others represented two percent. The prison population however showed white people at 50% of the population, black people at 48% of the population and others representing two percent (Petersilia, 1985 p.16). These numbers show that the discretion of criminal justice law enforcers was leading to discrimination. Not only are the numbers ridiculous but so is the sentencing. In Petersilia studies, he focused on three states, California, Michigan, and Texas. He stated that in these states minorities would get sentenced and ended up staying in prison longer than originally sentenced. For example in the state of California black people would get a court-imposed sentence of 1.4 months but the actual length of the sentence served was 2.4 months. Once again the criminal justice system gave a great amount of discretion to officers of the law, so prison guards and staff in prison made decisions that strongly influenced the quality of offender’s prison time, while parole officers and boards determined how long the offender would stay additional. In addition if an minority offender in prison was accused of hitting an corrections officer by the corrections officer it is an almost an 100% chance the parole board is going to believe the officer and the offender will have time added to their sentence. Even if there were witness (other prisoners) saying these events never happened the minority prisoner will still have the extra sentence. The study done by Petersilia simply offered clarity to the racial discrimination that happened and led to so many African Americans being institutionalized.

The information above shows the cruelty and injustice in the black community. Police officers and the criminal justice system just so happen were able to make more moves in inner cities, which is where most African Americans reside. By taking more African Americans off the streets and putting them into prison the criminal justice system was able to minimize the black vote and suppress African Americans voice. This was a method that was well knowingly used because the criminal justice system was run by predominantly white authorities.

As of right now 10 states do not allow ex-felons to vote indefinitely. 20 states give felons restoration of civil rights after term of conviction, parole and probation. Four states give restoration of vote back after parole and 15 states give back restoration of vote after term of incarceration. Two states give the right to vote on absentee ballot while incarcerated. In addition to this 10 states also restrict some people with a misdemeanor from voting (State Felon Voting Laws, 2017). Looking at these numbers and the variety they carry should cause question. Every state has a different look on restoration of voting rights. For example State Felon Voting Laws (2017) states Florida automatic restoration of civil rights and the ability to vote no longer is granted for any felony offense under Florida rule of Executive Clemency. This rule states that anyone convicted of any felony will have to apply for executive clemency after a five year waiting period, while certain felonies such as assault or drug trafficking has a seven year waiting period. Even after going through the wait and filling out the executive clemency application there rights can still be revoked and thrown out. As of right now, Florida has a petition going around to help ex-felons have a second chance. Florida reformers are working to get the Voting Restoration Amendment on the 2018 voting ballot. To do this they have to get the amount of 700,000 citizens to sign the petition just to get it on the 2018 voting ballot(Sign the Petition, n.d.). The tricky thing about this petition is that the forms that aren’t signed right will be thrown out and not counted as the 700,000 signatures of citizens. The reform of the voting rights is a controversial issue out right now and the people are trying to be heard.

Florida isn’t the only state that completely restricts voting rights. Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky Maryland Mississippi Tennessee and Wyoming also have the right to restrict voting rights from an ex-felon. The two states that allow voting while incarcerated are Maine and Vermont. Maine and Vermont’s voting fact sheet states that as long as you are a incarcerated in a correctional facility or in a county jail, you are entitled to register to vote in the Maine municipality long as you have established residency (State Felon Voting Laws, 2017).

Education is a key factor to the African American community. If more African Americans know more about how the criminal justice system works or even more important, know there rights then it would be hard to suppress so many African Americans. Simply putting a program that teaches felons about their rights while in the jails may be all the difference once they are released.

Hypothesis

The restoration of voting rights in the African American community will reduce recidivism. Looking at the literary review a lot of recidivism comes from parole violations and the war on drugs. On top of that, also stated in the literary review, majority of the prison population is African American with 34%. My theory is that if the criminal justice system can return the voting rights back to ex-felons in the African American communities it will reduce a lot of the recidivism. With voting rights also come other civil duties. If you are able to vote you can also be summon to jury duty. Getting more African Americans into jury duty will give them a voice within their own society. I believe giving the African American community a voice will also reduce recidivism.

Null Hypothesis

The restoration of voting rights in the African American community will not reduce recidivism. The criminal justice system returning voting rights back to the African American community will not reduce recidivism. Letting ex-convicts in the African American community return to the right to their civil duties will not reduce recidivism.

Definitions

Theory

A theory is a system of ideas to help explain general principles. A theory needs a great amount of evidence to support it. When referring to a research methods paper the theory can lead to what is known as a hypothesis. A hypothesis has to be able to be tested and researched through scientific investigations in order to be a valid hypothesis. The hypothesis in a research paper is the most important part of the paper because it is what the entire research and analysis is based on.

In this paper the theory is as stated: My theory is that if the criminal justice system can return the voting rights back to ex-felons in the African American communities it will reduce a lot of recidivism.

Reasoning’s

There are two types of reasoning’s. The first reasoning that will be discussed is inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is the logical model in which general principles are developed from specific observations (Maxfield, 2008). Basically in inductive reasoning you start with broad generalizations to come up with specific conclusions.

The other reasoning is deductive reasoning. In deductive reasoning specific expectations of hypotheses are developed on the basis of general principles (Maxfield, 2008). A general statement will give a valid conclusion every time. The conclusion must be true in order for the premise to be true.

In this paper I have used deductive reasoning where I stated that by restoring the voting right in the African American community it will reduce recidivism. The general statement in my reasoning included restoration of voting rights in the African American community as the conclusion is reduce recidivism. The conclusion will have to be true when conducting my research in order for the premise to be true.

Types of Research

There are also two types of main research. One of the researches is Qualitative. In Qualitative studies a technique where data are discussed without imposing any system of analysis (Maxfield, 2008). Qualitative expresses opinions motivations and underlying reasons for exploratory research.

The second type of research is quantitative research. This research is numerical data. This research contains graphs, numbers, surveys etc. to be formed into usable statistics.

In this research paper I will be conducting quantitative research. There will be a conduction of a survey and data will be collected from the survey for analysis.

Variables

The type of variables in a research paper includes independent variable and dependent variables. An independent variable is the material that does not depend on that of another. It does not change throughout the entire research (Maxfield, 2008). The dependent variable is the variable that changes. It depends on the different material at hand.

The independent variable in this research paper will be voting rights in the African American community. The dependent variable will be recidivism rates.

Population and Sample

When referring to research population you refer to a collection of individuals that is a focus of a scientific research (2009). More than likely the population will be used in quantitative research.

My population is targeted around the community in which I communicate in on a daily basis.

A sample in research is a portion taken from the population and is used for a specific measurement (2006). A sample is also used in quantitative research.

My sample population included those with an criminal justice degree or one will understanding and education of the criminal justice system.

Validity and Reliability

Validity in research is simple fact of where your research is valid or not (2006). The only things that can have validity are the proposition, inference or conclusion. The research such as measurements and samples technically doesn’t have validity.

I will know the validity once I draw up the conclusion from the data that will be collected and analyzed into graphs.

Reliability is the assessment of how consistent your results are (2006). To check your research you should check the reliability. This can be done by testing and retesting to see if the results come out constant.

I will test the reliability by checking and rechecking my data collected by the surveys conducted.

Type 1 error

A type one error is when you accept the null hypotheses in a research paper. This means that your hypothesis was not correct and the null hypothesis is. The type 1 error will also help you know what your next step in your research paper will be. However, the type 2 error in a research paper is when you reject the null hypothesis. This means that you can conclude your research and your hypothesis was correct.

There is no way of telling whether your research is a type 1 or type 2 error until after research is completely analyzed. Therefore your type 1 or type 2 error should be mentioned in your conclusion.

Recidivism

Recidivism is defined as the tendency for an offender to reoffend. Recidivism is a major problem in our criminal justice system today giving light to our prison reform.

Restoration

Restoration formal definition is the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. In this research paper the word is used as repairing the rights of African American and all offenders that vote was taken from them during their prison term. It is important to restore the prisoner as a member of society therefore giving them back voting rights will help the repair.

Analysis

In this section will be a series of graphs and explanations of the survey that was conducted to challenge the question, “Does restoration of voting rights reduce recidivism in the African American communities?” The survey was conducted off a basis of 25 criminal justice major students at Florida A&M University. The majority of the students at Florida A&M are African American, therefore the answers will largely reflect the opinion of the minority.

Question 1: Voting Rights should be a privilege.

Question 2: A high school diploma is the bare minimum to have a decent education.

Question 3:It is expected for people of color to not vote.

Question 4: Personal characteristics contribute to recidivism rates.

Question 5: it is essential for corrections to have skill programs before releasing criminals.

Question 6: More black people reenter prison than white people.

Question 7: Society is the major reason why recidivism rates are high.

Question 8: The recidivism rates are higher for males than females.

Question 9: It should be solely on the criminal to get his/her life back on track.

Question 10: Getting educated and making the right choices is solely self-motivation without outside factors.

Question 11: Your race has nothing to do with the amount of education you are able to reach.

Question 12: Rehabilitation should be the common goal of the corrections.

Question 13: African Americans get treated tougher than whites in the criminal justice system.

Question 14: Do you think felons deserve restoration?

Question 15: Do you think felons should have the right to vote once they reenter society?

Question 16: Do you think recidivism is a direct cause of the high incarceration rate?

Question 17: Do you believe a felon should get any help reentering society?

Question 18: Do you think it is society fault that felons have a hard time adjusting once released from prison?

Question 19: Would you sign a petition to help get programs in prisons such as job training?

Question 20: Parental incarceration has positive affect on children?

Question 21: Have you ever witnessed someone being denied a job because of their criminal record?

Question 22: Have you ever denied someone because of their race?

Question 23: Do you think the criminal justice system is designed for African Americans to fail?

Question 24: Do you think the black vote was taken away when the American government enacted The War on Drugs?

Question 25: Is justice being denied for African Americans?

Conclusion

This paper was conducted to determine if restoration of voting rights will reduce recidivism in the African American communities. The African American communities need a restoration far beyond voting rights. Concluding from the analysis, majority believed felons deserved restoration and 88% of them would sign a petition to help them regain their voting rights. Majority believed felons should have the right to vote once they reenter society and 84% believed recidivism is a direct cause of the high incarceration rate. They should get help reentering society. Majority believed it is society fault that felons have a hard time adjusting once released from prison. Majority agreed that justice is being denied for most African Americans as well as during the War on Drugs the black vote was taken away by the criminal justice system. However, majority also believe that voting rights are a privilege. The data states that more African american reenter prison than white people and it is essential for corrections to have skill programs before releasing criminals. Society is a major reason why recidivism rates are high and recidivism rates are higher for males than females according to the data presented. Rehabilitation is the overall common goal of the corrections system. African Americans get treated tougher than whites in the criminal justice system.

With the data analyzed it is safe to say that the hypothesis of this research paper is true. The hypothesis stated that the restoration of voting rights in the African American community will reduce recidivism. Looking at the literary review a lot of recidivism comes from parole violations and the war on drugs. On top of that, also stated in the literary review, majority of the prison population is African American with 34%. My theory is that if the criminal justice system can return the voting rights back to ex-felons in the African American communities it will reduce a lot of the recidivism. With voting rights also come other civil duties. If you are able to vote you can also be summon to jury duty. Getting more African Americans into jury duty will give them a voice within their own society. I believe giving the African American community a voice will also reduce recidivism.

This will give this research paper a type 2 error. This research paper was checked to be valid during the analysis. The data was double checked to make sure the answers from the surveys were valid. To check reliability the survey was given out again to different people but still criminal justice majors. The actual statistics varied but still had the end result in which majority believed that restoration of voting rights will in fact reduce recidivism in the African American communities.

Further research could be asking a more conservative group of individuals or perhaps people that are already working in the criminal justice system. To get another perspective of this research perhaps a co-writer could be joined to conduct an entire new survey to entire new crowd. This will cause a great amount of conversation and better understanding of the topic and what is already happening. The criminal justice system is continuously reforming and changing to accept more people into the system. As an African American, working harder and doing more will make the success seen. This research paper showed just that; African Americans will have to be the ones to change their own fate.

References

2017 Florida Statutes. (2017, December 01). Retrieved December 01, 2017, from http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999%2F0944%2FSections%2F0944.275.html

Citation: Fortunato, S. J. (2002). Corporate Crime and Voting Rights. Dissent (00123846), 49(3), 56-61.

Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from http://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/

Durose, Matthew R., Alexia D. Cooper, and Howard N. Snyder, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 30 States in 2005: Patterns from 2005 to 2010 (pdf, 31 pages), Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, April 2014, NCJ 244205.

Introduction to Validity. (2006, October 20). Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/introval.phpIzadi, E. (2017, November 07). ‘Unjust and heavy-handed’: Jay-Z slams Meek Mill prison sentence for probation violation. Retrieved December 05, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/11/07/unjust-and-heavy-handed-jay-z-slams-meek-mill-prison-sentence-for-probation-violation/?utm_term=.ae6972c4e371JACOBI, T. t., RICHARDSON, S. s., & BARR, G. g. (2014). THE ATTRITION OF RIGHTS UNDER PAROLE. Southern California Law Review, 87(4), 887-976.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.htmlMaxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2008). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

Petersilia, J. (1985, January 1). Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System: A Summary. Retrieved November 09, 2017, from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011128785031001002#articleCitationDownloadContainerPhelan, C., & Wren, J. (n.d.). Reliablility and Validity. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://chfasoa.uni.edu/reliabilityandvalidity.htm

Race and the war on drugs. (2007, October 22). America, 197(12), 5. Retrieved from http://famuproxy.fcla.edu/login?URL=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=PPCJ&sw=w&u=tall18692&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA170388391&asid=aae22ab38c51e