Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 01:47:11 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199904190547.BAA17276@belmonte.ne.mediaone.net>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: CapuanoHR8@aol.com
Subject: support HR 906

Dear Representative Capuano:

I write as your constituent to express my support for HR 906, introduced by
John Conyers.  This bill would eliminate states' permanent disenfranchisement
of ex-felons who have paid their debt to society.  Currently, because of biased
enforcement of criminal laws, disenfranchisement disproportionately affects
black Americans.  In fact, a recent report by The Sentencing Project and Human
Rights Watch estimated that "in states that disenfranchise ex-felons,
40 percent of the next generation of black men is likely to lose permanently
the right to vote."  I hope you'll support HR 906 in order to remove this
barrier to democracy.