As of 2016, 6.1 million Americans were prohibited from voting due to laws that disenfranchise citizens convicted of felony offenses. And of that number, as the female incarcerated population has increased by more than 750% over the past 40 years, a growing number of those who face post-conviction barriers to reentry into society are women. Nicole D. Porter, The Sentencing Project’s Director of Advocacy, will speak on this topic at Washington College on March 19.
Co-sponsored by the William James Forum, the Department of Sociology, the program in Justice, Law, & Society, and the Women’s Centennial Celebration Committee, “Expanding the Franchise: Challenging Mass Incarceration through Enfranchisement,” gets underway at 6:30 p.m. in the Toll Science Center’s Litrenta Lecture Hall. Porter’s talk will address voting rights and women with felony convictions.
Through research and advocacy efforts, The Sentencing Project works to reform sentencing policies and practices that contribute to racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, while promoting alternatives to incarceration. As Director of Advocacy for the organization, Porter manages state and local advocacy efforts on sentencing reform, voting rights, and eliminating racial disparities.
Porter’s work has been cited in several media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and National Public Radio. Essence Magazine recently named her a new Civil Rights Leader based on her work to eliminate mass incarceration.
About Washington College
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 39 states and territories and 25 nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.
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