When: Thursday, February 20, 2014 – 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Where: Kirby 104
Felon disenfranchisement laws deny the right to vote by stripping individuals of this fundamental right at the time of conviction and then by continuing to deny the restoration of the right until certain conditions have been met. Voter identification laws prevent the exercise of the right to vote by declaring who is eligible based upon whether they possess a valid form of identification. Regardless of the set of laws, countless citizens, and their communities, are being disenfranchised, rendering them invisible and voiceless. Or do these laws merely protect the purity of the ballot box?
S. David Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Law, is an interdisciplinary scholar whose scholarship focuses on the criminal justice system, specifically the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction and the obstacles that prevent the successful reentry and reintegration of ex-offenders. He received a PhD in sociology and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania.