Between The Lines - Marc Mauer: state laws prohibit millions of Americans convicted of felony charges from voting in local, state and national elections (Week Ending May 30, 2014)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

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Millions with Felony Convictions Have Lost Voting Rights Across the U.S.

Posted May 21, 2014

Interview with Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In a move unusual among state election officials, Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill announced on May 6 that her office is collaborating with advocates for the homeless and those convicted of felonies to encourage those groups of people to register and vote. In 2001, Connecticut reformed the state’s election law, allowing individuals who have completed their parole supervision to vote, even if they are still on probation.

Across the country, 35 states deny voting rights to those on probation or parole, while twelve states prohibit ex-felons from voting even after completing their full sentence, including parole or probation, sometimes for the rest of their lives. Only two states, Vermont and Maine, permit individuals serving prison sentences to participate in elections.

According to data compiled by The Sentencing Project in 2010, almost 6 million adults who were convicted of a felony don’t have a right to vote. The loss of voting rights for people convicted of felony charges disproportionately effects African Americans - with 7 percent of blacks disenfranchised, compared to 1.8 percent of the rest of the U.S. populace. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which promotes sentencing reform and alternatives to incarceration through research and advocacy. Here, he asserts that leadership from the top is required to pass state legislation restoring voting rights to citizens convicted of felonies.

MARC MAUER: Four of the most restrictive – Virginia, Florida, Kentucky and Iowa – in those states, every felony conviction results in a lifetime ban on voting. So everyone is affected, resulting in huge rates of disenfranchisement there. Sometimes the particular governor in office can affect how difficult or easy it is to get your rights restored, because they have discretion. In Florida, for example, when Gov. Charlie Crist was in office, he opened up the process significantly, and well over 100,000 ex-felons had their rights restored. He was then succeeded by Gov. Rick Scott, who basically closed off the spigot completely, and almost no one has had their rights restored since he's been in office. So, it's very dependent both on the policy and then discretionary actions by governors.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Has anyone ever done a study to see what impact allowing voting has on civic participation, or even recidivism?

MARC MAUER: There's only one serious study to date by a University of Minnesota criminologist who looks at the connection between electoral participation and recidivism. And that study suggests that people who have a criminal record already and go out and vote and participate actually get beneficial effects and reduced rates of recidivism. And, you know, researchers recognize that these issues are complicated and it's not just the single act of voting that turns everything around, but that voting in combination with other pro-social behaviors does produce lower rates of recidivism. So, in addition to the questions about democracy, it turns out that broadening the electorate also can have some public safety benefits as well.

BETWEEN THE LINES: The racial composition, I'm not sure. I'm guessing it's mostly African American, except in Iowa, where I know there are quite a few Latinos, but I don't think too many black residents.

MARC MAUER: What we see in every state is that are generally extreme racial disparities in the impact of disenfranchisement which follows on disparities in the justice system generally. So even in a state like Iowa, which has a relatively small African American population, nonetheless the rate of disenfranchisement for African Americans is far greater than for whites in that state. The other three states – Virginia, Florida and Kentucky – that have broad lifetime disenfranchisement, the rates are just remarkable. In those states, one in five adult African Americans is currently disenfranchised as a result of these policies. So this is an issue for individuals and their participation, but at this rate and this point, it's fundamentally a question for the African American community and their power as a community is really being affected by these policies.

BETWEEN THE LINES: I assume that's one out of 5 African American males?

MARC MAUER: No, that's one of every five African Americans, male and female combined. We only have the data for male and female combined; if we were just look at males, we know the rates would be considerably higher than that, probably approaching 30 percent in those particular states.

BETWEEN THE LINES: I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. This project being spearheaded by Connecticut's highest elections official. Are you aware of other such officials in other states doing this?

MARC MAUER: Most of the activity encouraging people to register has been led by advocacy organizations, civil rights groups and the like. So there are very few cases where we see high-ranking state officials taking this on seriously. There has been some progress in Virginia in recent years. First, Gov. McDonnell, a Republican, and now Gov. McAuliffe, a Democrat, have opened up the restoration process in that state. It used to be lifetime ban with a very lengthy waiting period. Now, for those convicted of a nonviolent offense, they can apply for rights restoration shortly after they complete their sentence. It's still a problem in Virginia, as elsewhere, in that relatively few people know about the process or get much support in filling out the required paperwork and the like, so it's very important if we can have situations, such as the Secretary of the State in Connecticut leading that effort and that is likely to make the process go much more smoothly, encouraging people to become registered.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Even if they've never been convicted of a crime, low-income people of color – which is the same demographic we're talking about who are convicted of felonies – are much less likely to vote than whiter and higher income individuals. If that's true, I guess this effort could help move the needle a little bit among lower income and people of color populations?

MARC MAUER: Yeah, if there are campaigns to get out and register people to vote who have the right to vote because they've completed their felony sentences, this could potentially have a significant impact on the representation that we see coming out of these communities so that in terms of having their political voice, access to resources and the like, the communities as a whole have been harmed by disenfranchisement policies even though most people in those communities themselves do not have a felony conviction; it still has affected their political life, nonetheless.

For more information on the Sentencing Project, visit sentencingproject.org.