u kegon:
t cuts, t e, unemploym nt
oth r m tte relevant to th "fairne
. ue" at both of hi I t two pre con­
ference , according to a new analy is
. ued today by the Center on Budg t
nd Policy Prioritie. The Center is a
non-profit research organization in W sh­
ington, D.C.
At hi July 24 and Jun 14 pre
conference, th President contended
th t no vidence e . ted to show that
hi bud et cut h d hurt the poor, that
ocial progra had b n expanded to
the gre te t e ent e er r th r then
reduced under hi Administr tion that
policie b nefited 10
th mo t
white un mployment,
fo d tamp benefit h
ferred to poorer famili .
"Stron and irrefut ble evidence from
impeccable non-p rtisan ource m ke
clear that th Pre ident's rtion are
imply not correct:' Center director
R bert Green tein aid in reI ing th
ne analysi.
The analy . , "Th re He G Again:
An y' of Pre ident Re gan's State-
ment on the Fairn I ue t hi June
14, 1984 d July 24, 1984 Pre Con­
data from offici I, non-
( uch the Congre-
. ona] Budget Office the G neral
ccountin Office, the Bureau Admin-
i tration' own Office of ana m nt
and Budg t and oth r federal gencie
to a e the validity of the tatement.
HIGHL GHTS OF THE ALYSIS
Among the principal finding of th
nalysis ("Th re He Go Ag in: An
Analysi of Pre id nt egan' State-
ment on th Fairne I ue t his Jun
14, 1984 and July 24 1984 Pre on-
ference ") are the following:
-The Pre ident den' d th exi ten
of a single fact or figure howin th t
budget reductions have harm d th P r
but numerous official tudi h
fully documented thi pint.
gre ion 1 Re rch Servic tudy fo n
th t at least 560 000 p r n
of them worn n and childr n
pu ed into poverty by the 1981 bud
cu .
A General ccounting Office tudy
Continu on p e 11
,0
a
c
ASH) GTO ,D.C. - Congre SID n
John Conyers, Jr. (D-M I) , Chairman of
the Hou e Sub ommittee on Criminal
Ju tice, today i ued the follo ing
t tement on H. Con. Res. 335, a bill
h introduced to clarify the la affect­
ing the oting rights of cert in criminal
offenders: ,
"The right of every person to regi ter
nd vote is of fundamental importance
to our American ystem of government.
Howe er, for a cert in population of
crimin I offender. that right is very
often ignored becau of the erron ous
b lief that I everyone who goe to j il
is disenfr n hi ed.
"Ordinarily, it i only convicted
felon that 10 e th ir voting rights und r
tate la. Convicted misdem anant
pretrial det inees, and those who are
ppe ling a felony conviction u ually
remain eligab to register nd vote,
but rarely do th y ex rei their votin
right becau both they nd correcti n
offici Is ar unaw re of what the I w
provides.
"It i estim ted th t there ar approx­
im tely 300.000 men nd worn n in
cu tody who are unaw re of th ir right
to vote: Thi to m i an intolerabl
ituation, the re olution of which .
e ential to the full enj yment of voting I
rights.
"On June 29, 19 4 I intr du ed a
House ncurr nt Re luti n e pre in
USSELL. 0 D PO EE
LEB AlES 87 ·YEA S
2_5C
,
,
.
• •
th ns of the Congre that: first,
all tate constitutions and county and
city charters be amended to reflect
the right of all pretri ) det in e , con­
victed mi demeanants, and pri ner on
appeal to register nd vote: c d, th
opportunity to register and m d
vailable to all qu Jified in
our jails nd pri on � nd th ir p -
b tion nd p rol official c n ider
voting particip tion to
rehabiJitativ f ctor h n v 1 tin
the offende i under th ir upervi in."
SUPRE E COU T UU G UP-HO
VOT G R IITS 0 JAILED
Lee Wood. Committee to Ab
Slavery (CAPS tion I Oper tio
Coordinator. id "In 1974 th Unit d
State Supreme Court ruled in 0 Brien v.
Skinner that 'per ons who ar inc r­
cerated as convicted mi dem an nt or
pr trial detainee unable to m e bail
but who are under no voting di ability
under st te I w were entitled to vote
by b ntee ballot.' to
ood tated "a urv y of the pr nt
problem show that no c ncurren t
voter r i tration p licy wa implem nt­
ed. that thi histori citizen hip in
as i nor d and de enerated into
public p licy over ight, and that appr xi­
rnately 20 million eli ible v t ere
n t c t v r ummul tiv peri d 0
th P tlOyears.
e
e
th ains could hav been
uplifting and em ncipative," ood stre -
d." ciety u tained tragic 10 d
continue to uffer. Hou Concurrent
o. 335. authored by
eks to re r e tho 10 for
inc rcerated 'citizens and for
ci ty a a whol .'�
hen sked about t po ibility of
inc rcerat d citizens forming a voting
bl c, Wo d explained that "incarcer ted
citizens repre nt a wide cro section of
th outside ci ty - including aU p lit-
i I p rties." R th r than voting on
political per on lities, ood sugge ted
"they will most likely vote on i e
effecting their daily Ii es and the Ii s
of their f mily memb rs."
oncerning th recent United States
Suprem Court deci 'on denying
prisoner the right to cont ct . it ,
ood sugg ted "Thisi not n i olated
ituation. It i on in a ri of recent
event de igned to hype the Republican
Camp ign. Fir t , there w Chi f Justi
Burger's televi . on pitch for the intro­
duction of big bu ine into pri on ,
then ther the Suprem Court's
deci ion ain contact vi its folio ed
by Pr� 'dent Rea an law-and-order
p ech in S n Antonio, Te
When k d if the uld
. hinder either rna' r p rty
d t ted & I d ubt if many pri n r
Continu d on p II
