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46 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 233 (2014-2015)
Violence and Exclusion: Felon Disenfranchisement as a Badge of Slavery

handle is hein.journals/colhr46 and id is 661 raw text is: VIOLENCE AND EXCLUSION: FELON DISENFRANCHISEMENT AS A BADGE OF SLAVERY Shadman Zaman* ABSTRACT In the United States, felons lose their right to vote. In thirty- five states, felons remain disenfranchised even after they have served their sentence or are released on parole or probation. Legal challenges to felon disenfranchisement in the absence of clear racial animus have been unsuccessful. I argue that the Thirteenth Amendment provides a novel avenue for challenging disenfranchisement. This Note begins by examining two important definitional questions upon which the Thirteenth Amendment argument against felon disenfranchisement turns. First, what is a badge of slavery? Second, what is slavery? After answering these two questions by analyzing judicial precedent and scholarly argument, this Note re-evaluates the history of disenfranchisement from its roots in Ancient Greece to modernity. In examining the history, this Note demonstrates that felon disenfranchisement is conduct consistent with the definition of a badge of slavery. Indeed, felon disenfranchisement has stripped individuals of their ability to control the conditions of their existence across time. Not only has disenfranchisement always resulted in the violent control of persons convicted of felonies and other infamous crimes, but it has also resulted in the renewed subjugation of persons in modern day America. Social scientists have convincingly shown that disenfranchisement dilutes the voting power of minority communities, not only by limiting the number of people who can vote, but also by (indirectly) discouraging community members who can vote from participating in the political process. Given that there is a * J.D. Candidate, 2015, Columbia Law School. I would like to thank Professor Brett Dignam for her invaluable guidance and encouragement. I would also like to thank Billy Monks, David Imamura, and the staff of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review for their hard work on this note. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for all their support.

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