In Illinois, there are just under 30,000 people incarcerated in state prisons who are restricted from voting, but yet are still impacted by the decisions of those elected officials that they cannot vote for. Advocates at Chicago Votes have identified this as a critical error in state government after observing an off-putting intersection in those […]
This was the first time I’ve ever felt unhinged excitement entering a county jail, here’s why: October 24th 2022 at 10:00am, six candidates running on the ballot in Michigan this November, accepted the invitation to speak directly to jailed voters in-person. After a round of introductions participants, including media and outside community members like myself, […]
Chicago Votes’ Silenced Documentary brings together impacted voices in order to address the basic issue of disenfranchisement in our communities. Featured speakers remind viewers that, “America moves in a malicious way” as Illinois was founded on the disenfranchisement and criminalization of Black people like many other states’ legislation concerning voting, follow the national government’s trend […]
JLS National Prison Strike Calls Cover Corona Before the conditions of the word crumbled; when people were allowed to gather, rally and protest; prisoners around the world shifted the mass consciousness away from any last remaining tendencies from the “tough-on-crime” era. A spotlight beamed into the darkest corners of society as people in prison in […]
In 2019, we saw unprecedented progress in the conversation surrounding felony disenfranchisement. Last year, over a dozen states introduced legislation towards ending felony disenfranchisement: eleven (CA, WA, CO, IA, MN, CT, NJ, TX, KY, TN, NM) of those states were fighting to restore the voting rights of people immediately upon their release from prison and […]
Revolutionary greetings to all freedom fighters and supporters for prisoners human rights: On a southern plantation (prison) JLS was founded in 2015 amongst a group of Jailhouse Lawyers who were already in unity as a cadre based upon the studies of George L. Jackson. This original group of comrades make up the current central committee. […]
This past Tuesday was election day and as we cast our ballots across the country, people are fighting to expand ballot access to those millions of citizens impacted by felony disenfranchisement nationwide. This isn’t a fight that just started and it isn’t one that will be ending anytime soon. In 2016, 40,000 people in Maryland had their voting rights […]
In New Jersey organizers are advocating for full enfranchisement through the traditional legislative process. New Jersey has been working on this effort for nearly two years. Senate Bill 2100 was introduced March 5, 2018 by Senator Ronald Rice. It currently has several cosponsors including Sen. Cunningham, Sen. Cruz-Perez and Sen. Diegnan. The bill would reenfranchise […]
In Massachusetts organizers aren’t waiting on legislators to understand the importance of incarcerated citizens having voting rights. Earlier this year in January S.12 was introduced by Senator Adam Hinds in partnership with Emancipation Initiative. The bill would have amended the state constitution to remove the phrase, “excepting persons who are incarcerated in a correctional facility due to […]
This time last year thousands of prisoners were buckling down in preparation for a national demonstration that would, not only put their jobs at stake, but that also put many lives on the line. All in an attempt to raise awareness about the oppressive, destitute conditions of United States prisons. Incarcerated citizens united Nationwide across dozens of […]