By Isaiah Thompson-Bonilla
Journalism Guild Writer
Voting rights in 2016 will once again become a major issue among eligible voters in 16 states as laws are passed to make voting more difficult.
An interview conducted by Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now, with Ari Berman, a journalist for The Nation, revealed the year 2016 will be the first time in 50 years that full protection of the Voting Rights Act won’t be available to all voters.
Goodman recounted the Supreme Court decision which eradicated important elements of the voting act, in the case Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. The ruling opened the door for some states with prior voting discriminatory issues to implement changes to their voting laws without getting consent from the federal government.
“South Carolina has a new voter ID law,” said Berman. “63,000 is the number of minority voters without IDs, who could not vote under the law.” Individuals without IDs will need to show a valid excuse as to why they do not have an ID, in order to be considered for eligibility.
Further questioning by Goodman extracted information of even more egregious practices in other states. In Texas, strict voting laws have created a huge disparity in the Black’s and Hispanic’s ability to vote.
Berman elaborated on the matter. “Six hundred thousand registered voters [in Texas] don’t have a government ID.” According to the report, having a government ID is more likely among the White population, whereas Blacks and Hispanics are two to three times less likely to have one.
“In Texas, you can vote with a gun permit, but not a student ID,” Berman added in the interview.
Goodman pressed Berman to lay out a solution to the current problem. She introduced the concepts of early voting, same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration to get a lot more people involved in the political process.
According to the interview, in many instances states are withholding information which would allow affected individuals to still have an opportunity to vote. For example, in South Carolina people are told they need one of five forms of ID to qualify for voting. In actuality, a person could still vote by casting a provisional ballot and signing an affidavit.
This type of deception can lead to frustration by potential voters, prompting these individuals to stay at home and not participate in the election process. Berman acknowledged there could be several reasons why people did not show up to vote, but concludes that “there are certainly some people that didn’t show up because of the voter ID law.”
 

|“63,000 is the number of

minority voters without IDs,

who could not vote under the law”|

 
With 16 states presently enforcing voter restrictions, the fairness of the process is being put into question.
One of the most closely contested elections in recent history happened in Florida in 2000 when only 537 votes separated George W. Bush from Al Gore. So many people in Florida were unable to vote for a number of reasons and the discrepancy in the legality of who qualified as a registered voter was contested all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Republican candidates running for president have taken their positions on the voting issue. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump believe restrictions should be put in place or left as they are.
Often during campaign season, candidates on the stump get away with saying things without validity. For example, Donald Trump in New Hampshire spoke at a rally concerning the current voting structure. “Look, you’ve got to have real security with the voting system. This voting system is out of control. You have people, in my opinion, that are voting ‘many, many’ times. They don’t want security. They don’t want cards.”
In the interview Berman said that there’s no evidence that people are voting ‘many, many’ times. While there have been issues in the past with voter impersonation, only 31 cases since 2000 have been reported with approximately a billion votes cast, he said.
In addition, there are other concerns with voting rights, alienating citizens from voting. Berman spoke directly to the disenfranchisement laws. “More than 5 million Americans can’t vote because of felon disenfranchisement laws, including one in 13 African Americans.”
The interview with Goodman addressed many of the problems associated with not having a voting bill to protect the voting public and process. Alternatively, Berman offered an example of a model that appears to be working for at least one state. Though the diverse demographic differs from larger more homogenous states, Vermont has voting laws in place to help its citizens rather than hinder them.
“Vermont has some of the best laws in the country,” Berman said. “They have same-day voter registration.”
Access to true and fair representation from local, state and national politicians is being greatly affected by voter restriction in many states of the country.
Same-day voter registration has produced a 10 percent increase in voter turnout, according to Berman. While states like Vermont and Minnesota have really good voting laws, states such as Texas, Alabama and South Carolina are heading in an opposite direction, he said.

President Barack Obama made an open declaration denouncing mass incarceration, and took action by commuting the sentence of 46 non-violent drug offenders, wrote Andrea Roth.
However, Roth’s column, featured in the Los Angeles Times, made clear that the White House and reformers cannot reach a significant reduction in the prison population without reaching beyond non-violent drug offenses. The criminal justice system at some point must address massive sentence disparities if any noticeable dent is to be made at reducing the population.
While the prosecution of drug offenses is often looked at as one of the reason for mass incarceration, they only account for 21 percent of the prison population growth. John Pfaff of Fordham Law School, an economist and criminal justice academic, used data from the National Prisoner Statistics database to come up with the percentage number. Pfaff’s research also showed that there has been an increase in violent offenses between1980 and 2009, accounting for more than half of prison population growth.
There is a level of misconception as to what is considered a violent offense. In California for example, a violent offense can occur without anyone being physically harmed or even present at the crime scene. Currently, if a person enters an occupied dwelling— whether there is someone home or not—it is considered a violent offense. If a theft occurs and it takes place in someone’s garage, it is considered a violent crime, etc.
In addition, crimes that are classified as violent under California’s criminal codes are often directly or indirectly related to drug addiction, sales or possession, concluded Roth. The use of the term “violent crime” has been socially constructed in legal terms which stretch across a wide span of understanding—and can be confusing.
Roth pointed out that drug offenders as a group are being given preferential treatment by enacting leniency over those who have committed more serious crimes. Often these more serious crimes result in sentences that are disproportionate to the actual harm done, causing longer prison terms and clogging the system.
Recent reforms in California’s Three Strikes Law have done little to bring relief to the state’s bustling prison population. A person who commits a crime currently under California’s violent crime statutes still faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life, even if no one is injured in the offense.
However, the process of over-punishing an offender because they have committed a violent crime can no longer be an excuse to imprison people to terms beyond what the sentence for the crime carries, Roth concluded. “Addressing the over-punishment and racially disparate treatment of violent offenders is a necessary step toward reining in this country’s bloated prison system.”

Nutritional care in the departments of corrections nationwide varies from state to state. However, one issue all states consistently struggle with is the cost of halal and kosher meals.
Before halal, which are Muslim meals, and kosher, which are Jewish meals, became standard in the corrections industry, many grievances were filed, often leading to litigation over not recognizing religious dietary standards.
More inmates in the U.S. are asking for halal and kosher meals. Because of this, the issues of cost and augmenting the kosher meals in a non-kosher kitchen have inspired discussion, writes Barbara Wakeen in the “Dietitian’s Corner” of the Association of Correctional Food Service Professionals’ Insider magazine.
In California, kosher meals are pre-packaged and halal meats are purchased from certified vendors then dispensed to all the facilities statewide. These prices vary from $2.60 to more than $8 per meal.
In Los Angeles County, microwave meals are served in facilities. The prices range from $2.82 to $3.20 each, for lunch and dinner for the kosher meal.
Throughout the country where there are kosher residents in non-kosher facilities, frozen foods from companies such as Sysco are ordered. Often pre-packaged meals are acceptable; however the question of whether an institution is doing all that it can to observe strict religious diets is often the topic of discussion.
Kosher meals and halal meat are more expensive than regular state-issued foods. The reason is that approval of these meals requires a rabbi or Islamic authority to authorize kitchen and supervision practices, as well as slaughtering techniques according to religious jurisprudence.
Many facilities around the country have adopted the kosher and halal meal paradigm, but it did not come without serious struggle by inmates seeking to have observance of their religious practices acknowledged and allowed by their corrections departments.
Wakeen also wrote, “The Arizona Department of Corrections settled a lawsuit after eight years of litigation where the inmate agreed to accept a kosher diet as an acceptable alternative to halal meats.”

A man who spent 21 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit is now sitting on the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles. DNA testing exonerated him and identified the actual perpetrator.
Kenneth F. Ireland was convicted of the savage rape and murder of Barbara Pelkey, when he was 16 years old. He received a 50-year sentence and spent more than half his life behind bars.
Ireland, who always declared his innocence, lost support of friends and family, and turned to the Connecticut Innocence Project (CIP). Due to the persistence of the CIP, DNA testing was performed and Ireland was exonerated of all charges, The New York Times reported on Dec. 20.
Instead of holding Connecticut’s justice system in contempt, Ireland, now 45, allowed his name to be submitted for active membership on the state’s parole board.
Ireland said, “I’ve been on the inside, and I understand the programs, the issues confronting the inmates.”
Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy nominated Ireland in October 2014, and he was given a temporary position on the board. Ireland was unanimously confirmed as a full-time board member by a judiciary committee in January.
Ireland has done a lot of work assisting those who have been wrongfully convicted. During this process, Ireland got to know the dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law, Timothy S. Fisher. According to the article, Fisher was instrumental in advocating Ireland’s appointment to the board.
Fisher said, “He has a very clear-eyed understanding of the people in prison.” Fisher went on to mention that because of Ireland’s experience on the inside of prison, he has the ability to know when someone is putting on a good performance rather than demonstrating the internalization of self-help and rehabilitation.
At the time this article was reported, Ireland was presiding over a hearing which turned out to be his first test. He worked alongside a retired FBI agent, Ralph A. Murphy. Ireland’s preparation was apparent. The hearings were held to address the revocations of parole for 11 men. None was released to the community.
While parole revocation hearings are not as detailed as a regular court hearing, they can be as intimidating for the inmate. The panel members have the power to grant an inmate parole or revoke the inmate’s parole and send him/her back to lockup for a number of months to years, and the panel’s decisions are final.
Vivien Blackford, a member of the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, was the first person to pitch the idea of Ireland serving on the board. She said, “Having been in prison, he brings so much to the board because he understands the experience, the perspectives, and the reasons that people do what they do.”
In January, the state of Connecticut awarded Ireland $6 million for his wrongful incarceration.

Foreign-born immigrants are finding non-traditional territories to settle in, which is helping to stabilize the population in middle America, where the population of native-born Americans is in decline, a Pew study concludes.
The median age in the United States is rising with Americans living longer and having fewer children than in recent decades, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ December 2014 study says.
Statistics showed that the gap between citizens 65 and older and the working age citizens ages 24 to 64 is closing. This is an issue that presents a potential problem for the American labor force, especially in middle America, Pew said.

 “93 percent of nearly all the working age population in America 

will be immigrants; this includes their U.S.- born children”

.However, the influx of immigrant migration to middle America has helped to address the issue of an aging workforce. The 12-page brief also noted that the U.S. population’s size and makeup is an important aspect of the potential growth of economic production, to include taxes and spending.

With immigrants mitigating the working age population, the PEW Research Center has determined that by 2050, 93 percent of nearly all the working age population in America will be immigrants; this includes their U.S.-born children.

States such as California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey and New York are traditional hubs for incoming immigrants. These states have experienced a substantial increase in foreign-born adding to the population. The numbers have grown since 1990. From 1990 to 2012, the foreign-born population from ages 18 and older increased by 19.3 million or 109 percent from 17.7 million in 1990 to 37 million in 2012, the report said.

The increase of the foreign-born population was mirrored in other parts of the country. However, the native-born population in middle America decreased. The overall numbers declined for immigrants in Maine, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Ohio and others. The decline was due to the exodus and a higher death than birth rate.

Along the Mississippi River, the southern part of Arkansas and into western Mississippi these facts could not have been more evident, as the Pew’s statistics indicated in the report. The document also reported that “approximately two-thirds of counties in North Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska experienced some decline in their native population; those counties had an average decline of 12 percent.”

The states where the native population grew were the traditional locations in which immigrants were received. The growth helped to drive the population increase in nontraditional states and locations. For example California’s and New Jersey’s immigrant population growth helped states in the southeastern and mountain states increase their population as these regions became a new destination for immigrants and foreign-born immigrants.