Law enforcement objects to bill restoring felons’ voting rights

Erin Neff

Thursday, March 27, 2003 | 4:57 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Law enforcement representatives said Wednesday they had 20 pages of objections to a bill that would restore the right to vote for 44,000 felons.

But dozens of supporters from social activists to the religious community and felons now contributing to society urged support of Assembly Bill 337.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani sponsored the measure to prevent what she called onerous procedures through which felons must go to regain the right to vote.

"Society has long promoted the view that once you serve your time, you have paid your debt to society and therefore should be allowed to resume your place in society," Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said Wednesday in testimony before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Giunchigliani also highlighted the fact Nevada and Alabama are the only states that require felons other than sexual offenders to register as felons when they move into the state.

One witness testified about a past arson plea in Baltimore that has prevented him from voting in Nevada. He was never technically convicted of a felony, but he cannot prove that to Nevada officials because Nevada doesn't recognize records from Maryland, he said.

Liz Moore of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, testifying from Las Vegas, said Nevada ranks with Southern states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, which enacted their felon voting rights statutes at the time of reconstruction.

Moore said 25 percent of black Nevadans over the age of 25 are felons.

"Communities of color are being systematically silenced at the ballot box," Moore said.

Giunchigliani added that while felon disenfranchisement disproportionately impacts blacks, "it signals a deleterious effect on democracy as a whole."

But lobbyists representing the Nevada District Attorney's Association, Metro Police and the Washoe County Sheriff's Office all said they had concerns with the bill.

Metro Lt. Stan Olsen said he could not elaborate on the concerns in the short hearing time because he had "20 pages worth."

Jim Nadeau, a lobbyist for the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, said he was concerned about a fiscal impact on law enforcement. The bill requires automatic restoration of rights in cases where records are sealed, in addition to all cases in which a person is honorably discharged from probation or parole.

"It sometimes requires significant work," Nadeau said. "Some elements of the bill are unworkable and a significant burden on us."

The bill also drew opposition from the state Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission, which are concerned about a section of the bill that removes the authority of the Gaming Control Board to inspect certain sealed records concerning convictions.

Dennis Neilander, chairman of the Gaming Control Board, said he was concerned that the bill limits the board's discretion to make employment and licensing decisions based upon a person's past convictions.

"We think the system as it is now works fine," Neilander said, regarding the section of the bill that proposes to repeal gaming control's rights to inspect sealed records.

The state's Division of Parole and Probation also testified that the bill would require additional staff.

The committee took no action on the bill Wednesday.com