[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4217 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4217
To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from
incarceration under the First Step Act.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2024
Ms. Butler (for herself, Mr. Booker, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Welch, Mr.
Wyden, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Coons, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Smith, Mr. Markey, Mr.
Van Hollen, and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from
incarceration under the First Step Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the Next Step Home Act.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The recidivism rates of beneficiaries of the First Step
Act (Public Law 115-391; 132 Stat. 5194) is only 12.4 percent
compared to the overall recidivism rate of 43 percent for
prisoners in prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons.
(2) The success of most individuals released under the
First Step Act (Public Law 115-391; 132 Stat. 5194)
demonstrates that reducing the population in overcrowded
Federal prisons can be done safely and effectively.
(3) Extending the Federal franchise to individuals with
criminal convictions will further reduce recidivism rates.
(4) Basic constitutional principles of fairness and equal
protection require an equal opportunity for citizens of the
United States to vote in Federal elections.
(5) Section 4 of article I of the Constitution of the
United States grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over
Federal elections, an authority which has repeatedly been
upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.
(6) The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, which prohibits excessive bail, the imposition of
excessive fines, and the infliction of cruel and unusual
punishments, also moves Congress to act when lifetime felony
voting bans are used to mistreat those with felony convictions.
(7) The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments
to the Constitution of the United States empower Congress to
enact measures that further protect the right to vote in
Federal elections, and codify the principle that the right to
vote may not be abridged or denied by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color, gender, or previous
condition of servitude.
(8) Congress also has independent authority under the 14th,
15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments to the Constitution of
the United States to ensure elections are conducted without
unlawful discrimination. Under these amendments, Congress has
the duty to act when incarcerated individuals are treated as
second-class citizens through the denial of the vote.
(9) The Reconstruction Amendments specifically, which
include the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution
of the United States, require full legal and political equality
for former slaves and their progeny, many of whom are
individuals with criminal convictions today.
(10) The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States stands out as perhaps the most important amendment given
the Equal Protection Clause in section 1 has been the basis on
which Federal courts have been able to strike down laws and
practices that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race.
The rate at which Black men are imprisoned in Federal
facilities in the United States raises Equal Protection
concerns given that their imprisonment remains many times that
of their White counterparts and more than double that of the
Hispanic male population, showing huge racial discrepancies in
the criminal justice system.
(11) Additionally, according to scholars such as Henry
Chambers, ``A reasonably robust vision of the Fifteenth
Amendment focuses on the political equality that should have
been the culmination of the Reconstruction Amendments. That
vision requires that rules and procedures that limit the
political equality of minority groups be justified as necessary
for the functioning of the electoral system, not that they
merely appear colorblind. Such a reading of the Fifteenth
Amendment may appear to require affirmative action on the part
of States to guarantee minority representation and might appear
to conflict with an equally robust reading of the Fourteenth
Amendment and its supposed colorblind principle. If this is the
case, so be it.''.
(12) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352; 78
Stat. 241) and the Voting Rights Act 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et
seq.) also extend the authority to Congress to continue to
exercise its constitutional authority in this space as
appropriate.
(13) Congress is also moved to act given the discrepancies
in State laws regarding criminal convictions leading to
unfairness in Federal elections. As of 2024, 48 States have
either temporarily or permanently banned individuals with
felony convictions from voting while the District of Columbia,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 2 States, Maine and
Vermont, ensure these individuals retain the franchise even
while they are incarcerated.
(14) In 23 States, individuals with felony convictions lose
their access to the franchise only while incarcerated and get
their right to vote ``automatically restored'' once their
prison sentence is completed. These States are California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, North Dakota,
Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Washington.
(15) The remaining 25 States have voting laws on the books
that are less friendly towards individuals with prior felony
convictions. In 14 States, individuals with felony convictions
typically have their voting rights restored after parole or
probation is completed. These States are Alaska, Arkansas,
Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia,
and Wisconsin. In the remaining 11 States, individuals with
felony convictions lose their voting rights indefinitely for
some crimes or require the pardon of a Governor to get their
access to the franchise restored. These States are Alabama,
Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi,
Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming.
(16) Despite their disenfranchisement, individuals with
felony convictions continue to be counted as part of State
populations for representation purposes in Congress and for the
Electoral College. According to author Michelle Alexander in
The New Jim Crow, ``[T]he Census Bureau counts imprisoned
individuals as residents of the jurisdiction in which they are
incarcerated [through the usual-residence rule].''.
(17) Disenfranchising citizens who have been convicted of a
criminal offense and who are living and working in the
community serves no compelling State interest and hinders their
rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
(18) Finally, the right to vote is the most basic
constitutive act of citizenship. Restoring voting rights in
Federal elections to individuals with felony convictions will
better integrate these individuals into free society, improve
public safety, strengthen the overall reentry process in the
United States, and move the United States closer to realizing
the rehabilitative goals of its broken carceral system.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual''
means an individual who--
(A) completes serving a sentence for a conviction
under a Federal criminal law on or after December 21,
2018; and
(B)(i) has time credits applied toward time in
prerelease custody or supervised release pursuant to
section 3632(d)(4)(C) of title 18, United States Code;
(ii) on or after the effective date of the
amendments made by section 102(b) of the First Step Act
of 2018 (Public Law 115-391; 132 Stat. 5210), receives
credit toward the service of the sentence of the
individual under section 3624(b)(1) of title 18, United
States Code;
(iii) is placed in prerelease custody or supervised
release under section 3624(g) of title 18, United
States Code;
(iv) on or after December 21, 2018--
(I) commits a violation of section
401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) or section 1010(b) of the
Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21
U.S.C. 906(b)) after a prior conviction for a
serious drug felony or serious violent felony,
as those terms are defined in section 102 of
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802);
and
(II) is sentenced for a violation described
in subclause (I);
(v) is sentenced pursuant to section 3553(f) of
title 18, United States Code, for a conviction entered
on or after December 21, 2018;
(vi) is sentenced pursuant to section 924(c)(1)(C)
of title 18, United States Code, for an offense--
(I) committed before December 21, 2018; and
(II) for which a sentence was not imposed
before December 21, 2018;
(vii) receives a reduced sentence under section 404
of the First Step Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-391; 132
Stat. 5222);
(viii)(I) is an eligible elderly offender, as
defined in section 231(g)(5) of the Second Chance Act
of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(g)(5)); and
(II) is placed in home detention pursuant to
section 231(g) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34
U.S.C. 60541(g)); or
(ix) receives a reduced term of imprisonment upon
motion of the individual under section 3582(c)(1)(A) of
title 18, United States Code.
(2) Election.--The term ``election'' means--
(A) a general, special, primary, or runoff
election;
(B) a convention or caucus of a political party
held to nominate a candidate;
(C) a primary election held for the selection of
delegates to a national nominating convention of a
political party; or
(D) a primary election held for the expression of a
preference for the nomination of persons for election
to the office of President.
(3) Federal office.--The term ``Federal office'' means the
office of President or Vice President of the United States, or
of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident
Commissioner to, the Congress of the United States.
(4) Probation.--The term ``probation'' means probation,
imposed by a Federal court with or without a condition on the
covered individual involved concerning--
(A) the individual's freedom of movement;
(B) the payment of damages by the individual;
(C) periodic reporting by the individual to an
officer of the court; or
(D) supervision of the individual by an officer of
the court.
SEC. 4. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.
The right of a covered individual who is a citizen of the United
States to vote in any election for Federal office shall not be denied
or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal
offense.
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Attorney General.--The Attorney General may, in a civil action,
obtain such declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to remedy
a violation of this Act.
(b) Private Right of Action.--
(1) In general.--A person who is aggrieved by a violation
of this Act may provide written notice of the violation to the
chief election official of the State involved.
(2) Relief.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the
violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt of a
notice under paragraph (1), or within 20 days after receipt of
the notice if the violation occurred within 120 days before the
date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved person
may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief
with respect to the violation.
(3) Exception.--If the violation occurred within 30 days
before the date of an election for Federal office, the
aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief election
official of the State under paragraph (1) before bringing a
civil action to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with
respect to the violation.
SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS.
(a) Notification.--Any covered individual who has been convicted of
a criminal offense under Federal law shall be notified in accordance
with subsection (b) that such individual has the right to vote in an
election for Federal office pursuant to the Next Step Home Act and may
register to vote in any such election.
(b) Date of Notification.--
(1) Felony conviction.--In the case of such an covered
individual who has been convicted of a felony, the notification
required under subsection (a) shall be given--
(A) in the case of an covered individual who is
sentenced to serve only a term of probation, by the
Assistant Director for the Office of Probation and
Pretrial Services of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts on the date on which the
individual is sentenced; or
(B) in the case of any covered individual committed
to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, by the
Director of the Bureau of Prisons, during the period
beginning on the date that is 6 months before such
individual is released and ending on the date such
individual is released from the custody of the Bureau
of Prisons.
(2) Misdemeanor conviction.--In the case of such a covered
individual who has been convicted of a misdemeanor, the
notification required under subsection (a) shall be given on
the date on which such individual is sentenced by a court
established by an Act of Congress.
SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) State Laws Relating to Voting Rights.--Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to prohibit any State from enacting any State law
which affords the right to vote in any election for Federal office on
terms less restrictive than those established by this Act.
(b) Certain Federal Acts.--The rights and remedies established by
this Act are in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by
law, and neither rights and remedies established by this Act shall
supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the National Voter Registration Act
(52 U.S.C. 20501), or the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C.
20901 et seq.).
SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS.
No State, unit of local government, or other person may receive or
use, to construct or otherwise improve a prison, jail, or other place
of incarceration, any Federal funds unless that State, unit of local
government, or person--
(1) is in compliance with section 4; and
(2) has in effect a program under which each covered
individual incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction who is a
citizen of the United States is notified, upon release from
such incarceration, of that individual's rights under section
4.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States voting in any
election for Federal office held on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
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