Next Step Home Act

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.

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.

Extending the Federal franchise to individuals with criminal convictions will further reduce recidivism rates.

Basic constitutional principles of fairness and equal protection require an equal opportunity for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal elections.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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].”.

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.

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.

Covered individual— The term covered individual means an individual who—

Election— The term election means—

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.

Probation— The term probation means probation, imposed by a Federal court with or without a condition on the covered individual involved concerning—

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.

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.

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.

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.).

is in compliance with section 4; and

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.