On the heels of the 2018 midterm elections in the United States, Americans have demonstrated an ideological shift in the way previously-incarcerated individuals are treated, as well as a reevaluation of which activities constitute a crime. Perhaps the biggest shift on election night came from Florida. Its Amendment 4, which would restore voting rights to individuals formerly convicted of a felony who’ve since served their sentence, passed by an overwhelming 28-point margin. Florida was previously one of four states that permanently revoked voting rights to convicted felons, but the amendment will restore voting rights to 1.5 million individuals, nearly a third of whom are African-American. Also on election night, four states tackled the criminalization of marijuana use in some fashion, with Michigan voting to legalize the recreational use of marijuana within the state. A similar ballot measure in North Dakota failed by a significant margin. Those are just a few…
Read more detail on Recent Law Student posts –