Study Shows Strong Connection Between Voting Rights and Low Recidivism

From our allies at the Sentencing Project.

Parole Commission Report Counters Tough Policy on Restoring Voting Rights.

A new report by the Florida Parole Commission shows that a released offender in Florida whose civil rights are restored is much less likely to be recommitted to prison than others in the overall population of released prisoners.  The report, quietly delivered to officials a few weeks ago, has not been discussed publicly.

The agency studied 31,000 cases over a two-year period in 2009 and 2010 and found that about 11 percent of people whose civil rights were restored ended up back in custody. The overall re-commitment rate in the state is three times higher - 33 percent - according to the Department of Corrections.

"This report shows clemency is working very well, as 89 percent of convicted felons granted a second chance have not re-offended," said Reggie Garcia, a Tallahassee lawyer who has helped ex-offenders navigate the complicated clemency process for the past 17 years.

Nearly 90,000 ex-offenders are waiting to have their civil rights restored by Scott and the Cabinet members...

Click HERE for the full story on the Sentencing Project's website. 

These numbers are roughly consistent with other studies we've seen that correlate voting rights restoration with lower recidivism, strengthening the argument that restoration of voting rights helps people become a part of society and makes it less likely that they'll commit crimes in the future.