Alaska’s Constitution and Felony Disenfranchisement: A Historical and Legal Analysis

• Main Author: Croft, JC
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Duke University School of Law 2019
• Subjects: Law; Alaska law review; Alaska
• Online Access: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/alr/vol36/iss2/2; https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1564&context=alr

A disproportionately high segment of Alaska’s incarcerated population is non-white, placing many of these citizens under the purview of the state’s felony disenfranchisement statute. This Article argues that the Alaska legislature has impermissibly broadened the scope of the felony disenfranchisement provision over time. This provision, expressly included in the Alaska Constitution and specifically debated during the convention, permits the revocation of voting rights for a person convicted of a felony involving “moral turpitude.” Rather than leave the definition of this provision to the courts, the Alaska legislature has toyed repeatedly with identifying the crimes that involve moral turpitude. Not only is the current statute impermissibly broad but its existence exceeds the legislature’s authority and stands in contravention of several provisions in the state constitution. Combined, these realities warrant a challenge to the provision’s validity under state law.