Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), who is considering a 2016 presidential run, is seeking to restore voting rights to nonviolent felons in federal elections. Paul also is pursuing reform in drug sentencing, including redefining to misdemeanors some drug offenses currently classified as felonies, and is supporting efforts aimed at getting nonviolent criminals back into the job market.
Paul does not deny his actions are motivated by politics. In an interview with Burgess Everett at Politico.com, Paul stated, “I believe in these issues. But I’m a politician, and we want more votes.”
As of 2011, more than a third of the 637,000 non-violent state or federal prisoners were serving time for drug offenses; 44 percent were black, 20 percent were Latinos, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That year, African-Americans made up only 13 percent of the population while Latinos made up 16 percent.
Paul states the criminal justice system disproportionately punishes minorities, making it harder for ex-cons to vote and gain meaningful employment. In July, Paul submitted his legislation as SB 2550.
Paul also sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter targeting 75 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of Republicans he estimates can support his bill. “There’s a racial outcome to the war on drugs,” Paul said. “Three out of four people in prison for nonviolent drug offenses are black and brown.”
Since then, Senator Cory Booker, a black Democrat from New Jersey, agreed to co-sponsor the bill, which the two senators are calling the REDEEM Act.
According to Ari Melber of MSNBC, the bill would “seal criminal records for teenage offenders, while adults could apply to have their records expunged. Judges would review those applications, under the proposal, by balancing an offender’s interest in ‘employment’ against the public’s interest in ‘knowledge and safety.’”