Covering Felony Disenfranchisement and The Politics of People Behind Bars

Roughly 2 million people with felony convictions have regained the right to vote since the late 1990s. Despite the sea change, incarcerated people are rarely asked for their political views. Most will be eligible to vote once they return home. Join The Marshall Project and The Journalist’s Resource to explore all the complexities of voting with a felony conviction. We’ll also discuss the results of a landmark political survey of more than 54,000 incarcerated people.

Panelists include:

Nicole Lewis, Engagement Editor, The Marshall Project. Lewis has reported on felony disenfranchisement issues across the country and has conducted The Marshall Project’s political survey for the last 4 years.

David Eads, Data Editor, The Marshall Project Eads conducted the data analysis for The Marshall Project’s political survey, and will walk us through the data-sharing tools and important survey limitations.

Clark Merrefield, Senior Editor, The Journalist’s Resource. Merrefield covers economics and legal systems for The Journalist’s Resource after previously reporting for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He’ll discuss the complex maze of felony disenfranchisement laws across the country.

About the organizations:

The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. We have an impact on the system through journalism, rendering it more fair, effective, transparent and humane.

The Journalist’s Resource bridges the gap between academia and journalism, empowering journalists to rely on academic research throughout every step of the reporting and editing process. Its open-access website offers explanatory research roundups on newsy public policy topics, articles about standout studies, and tip sheets to help journalists avoid missteps when reporting on research findings and public opinion polls.