Press Releases
House Leaders Weigh Restoring Voting Rights for Millions
Today, the House Judiciary Committee meets to consider the Democracy Restoration Act, a bill that would restore the right to vote to nearly 4 million American citizens with a criminal conviction, who are now living and working in the community.
– 03/16/10
New York’s Felon Voting Bar has Deep Roots in Jim Crow
A new study of New York’s constitutional history traces the state’s current felony disenfranchisement law to a century-long effort to keep African-American citizens out of the voting booth.
– 02/12/10
Advocates Commend Census Bureau for Enhancing States’ Access Prison Population Data in 2010
This week, the Census Bureau has agreed to produce a new data product that will assist state and local governments in avoiding prison-based gerrymandering, whereby districts that contain prisons are given extra representation in the legislature.
– 02/10/10
Morgenthau Leads 62 Former Prosecutors in Call for Better Defense of the Indigent
62 former New York prosecutors joined an amicus brief in support of a suit, now pending before New York’s highest court, which alleges that New York State’s legal services for the poor are constitutionally inadequate.
– 02/05/10
With Corporations’ New Outsize Voice, Can Shareholders Speak?
New policy proposal based on British law shows congressional leaders how to give corporate shareholders a voice in election spending.
– 01/28/10
Coalition Urges New York to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering
Today the Brennan Center for Justice urges New York State Senate and Assembly leaders to end prison-based gerrymandering. In most of New York, people in prison are counted in the Census where they are incarcerated rather than in their home communities. This policy skews the demographic characteristics in both urban and rural locales throughout the state. The campaign being launched today will urge passage of legislation that would use the 2010 Census to count people who are in prison in their home districts rather than the districts where they are incarcerated. Sponsored by Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, the legislation could affect the redistricting landscape in upcoming elections.
– 01/28/10
Governor Kaine chooses not to restore the right to vote in Virginia
VA Governor Tim Kaine announced today that he will not use his executive powers before leaving office to restore voting rights to 300,000 Virginians who do not have the right to vote because they were once convicted of a crime. Governor Kaine’s decision leaves these citizens without the right to vote even though they have returned to the community and completed all terms of their sentence.
– 01/15/10
Ethics Reform Should Include Open, Public Discussion
The Brennan Center is pleased to see the New York State Legislature committed to passing ethics reform, but the proposal must be subject to public scrutiny.
Authored by: Lawrence Norden
– 01/13/10
Ohio Needs Automatic and On-Line Registration, New Report Shows
New York—A Brennan Center for Justice report, released today, calls attention to the urgent need for automatic and on-line voter registration in Ohio. The report also shows that it is eminently possible to implement voter registration modernization (VRM) in Ohio now.
– 11/06/09