>1 in 5 African Americans in TN disenfranchised due to felony conviction

[Tanuki]

http://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pith-in-the-wind/article/20836159/report-more-than-1-in-5-african-americans-disenfranchised-in-tennessee-due-to-felony-convictions




"As America approaches an election featuring a Republican candidate whose campaign has included the most explicitly racist appeals in recent memory, The Sentencing Project has released a report estimating that more than one in five African Americans in Tennessee will not be able to vote because of a felony conviction. Overall, the report estimates that more than 420,000 Tennesseans are disenfranchised for the same reason, a figure that has risen over the past two years.

Highly restrictive laws about the lasting consequences of a felony conviction — only 12 states restrict voting rights after a person has served their sentence — make Tennessee one of six states in which more than 7 percent of the adult population is disenfranchised and one of only four states in which more than 20 percent of African Americans are disenfranchised.

The Sentencing Project estimates that 6.1 million people nation-wide are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. Across the country, they estimate, one in 13 African Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, "a rate more than four times greater than that of non-African Americans."
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(For more information about The Sentencing Project, cited in the article):

http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/6-Million-Lost-Voters.pdf