Databases, Felons, and Voting: Errors and Bias in the Florida Felons Exclusion List in the 2000 Presidential Elections
This paper examines the production and use of the exclusion lists by the state, its private sector contractor, Database Technologies (DBT), and Florida’s 67 counties between 1998 and the 2000 elections. It places the exclusion lists in the context of the social and political structure of the United States and the state of Florida, and interprets its significance within that context. I provide a detailed accounting of the contents of the lists, identify ways in which the lists reveal weaknesses in Florida’s voter list maintenance procedures up to 2000, and identify the types of errors made and biases in the production and use of the lists. The three major findings of the analysis are: a) the 2000 felons’ exclusion list had a considerable number of errors in it, probably more than 25% of the names on the list were on there in error; b) these errors were racially biased, such that more African-American registered voters were on the list in error than either Whites or Latinos; and c) that the decentralized process by which the felons’ list was used to purge the voter rolls resulted in a sometimes judicious but sometimes partisan purging process – Democratic county supervisors were less likely to use the felons’ list than Republican ones, but even the latter found considerable, biased errors in the list.
Negro Suffrage in the Period of Constitution-Making, 1787-1865
During the period of the making of the constitution for the federal government and the states, developed considerable discussion and action concerning the suffrage for Negroes. It is interesting to observe that when our democracy was writing its beliefs into law there was either direct opposition to or neglect of a definition of the voting status of Negro citizens. Many Negroes had exercised suffrage in the colonial period. They had served as soldiers in the colonial wars and in the war of the American Revolution. They had been property owners and tax payers, heads of households, and members of the churches, but they were kept from the ballot boxes even when most of the constitutions were made. With so little definition of the meaning of the term "citizen" in the thinking of the makers of the constitutions, it was inevitable that misunderstandings should arise throughout this period between the states and their citizens and the federal government and the states. The Federal Convention, the state conventions, the United States Congress, and the state legislatures all followed the course of inactivity, neglect and indifference in reference to their citizens of color and their status as voters. It is of value to note, however, the aggressive attitude of Negroes and the friends
Race And Juvenile Court Decision Making Revisited
Unfortunately, racism, perpetrated by virtually all of America's governmental institutions, has long been a fact and problem of American life. Prior research suggests that America's juvenile justice systems have not been void of the negative effects of racism; thus, racial equity in dispositional decisions is a major issue in dispensing juvenile justice. The study presented in this research examined Nebraska Crime Commission data over a consecutive six year period and found, all else being equal, that black youths are usually more likely to receive harsher treatment than are whites in terms of: (1) experiencing pre-hearing detention, (2) being formally prosecuted by petition, and (3) receiving a harsher final penalty. With regard to judging an accused youth to be delinquent, the analysis reveals a reversal of the foregoing relationship between race and harshness of the decision.The research concludes with some policy recommendations to remove racial biases from juvenile justice processing.