“In a victory for Tennessee voters, a federal judge affirmed that Tennessee election officials cannot deny voter registration to eligible Tennesseans who have past felony convictions and that they must inform potential voters of the eligibility requirements for voting after a felony. …
Our commitment to ‘free the vote’ remains unwavering until every disenfranchised voice is heard.
“‘This court decision marks a significant victory in our ongoing battle for voting rights restoration for those silenced by felony disenfranchisement,’ said Keeda Haynes [Leading with Conviction™ 2022], senior legal counsel at Free Hearts. ‘While we celebrate today, we remain vigilant in our fight against the evolving challenges and barriers to voting that have emerged since we first filed this lawsuit. Our commitment to ‘free the vote’ remains unwavering until every disenfranchised voice is heard.’ …
“The Court’s ruling does not change the reality that, currently, Tennessee election officials have unlawfully created a ‘two-step’ voting rights restoration process that makes it just one of three states that effectively permanently disenfranchises citizens with prior felony convictions. This process resulted from a major, bad faith misinterpretation of the law by the Elections Division last summer requiring all Tennesseans to restore their ‘full citizenship rights’ before they can restore their voting rights – in addition to filling out the Certificate of Restoration (COR) form. Then, earlier this year, TN Elections Division confirmed that it wrongly interprets Tennessee law to conclude that, if a person who was convicted of a felony doesn’t or cannot get their full gun rights restored, they won’t ever be able to restore full citizenship and, thus, their voting rights in Tennessee — a policy that threatens to preclude Tennesseans with many types of felonies, including anyone with a felony drug conviction, from ever restoring their right to vote.”
In our 10th anniversary year, JustLeadershipUSA’s work of educating, elevating, and empowering justice-impacted leaders continues and is growing even stronger!
This is going to be a very special time to look back on the past decade of JLUSA’s important work, the 1,600+ leaders we have helped get to the next level in their work, and even more importantly, we will look ahead to the next 10 years and beyond!
We can’t do this without you. We need your support to help us continue to do this work now and into the future. By making a donation in honor of JLUSA’s 10th anniversary year, you are saying to the amazing leaders in our network who represent the 70+ million Americans who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system, “I see you, and I support you!”
Please give a one-time $100 gift or set up a recurring $10 monthly donation to celebrate JLUSA’s 10th anniversary year, and together we will build a fair and just U.S. Thank you!
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JustLeadershipUSA is a non-partisan organization. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed belong solely to the individual author or speaker, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the organization.
Since 2014, JustLeadershipUSA has maintained our commitment to ensuring systems-impacted voices are at the forefront of the movement for criminal legal reform, empowering directly impacted leaders in over 45 states with the tools, resources, and connections to transform their work.
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