Felons gallery
Portraits and interviews from the 2012 News21 project.
Willie Black, Florida
Black, 47, spent almost seven years in prison on a charge of trafficking stolen property. He was released less than a year ago, and it will be several years before he can apply to restore his civil rights. Black said it is frustrating not to have the voice his vote would give him. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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How can you say you want to help us be a part or readjust back to society space if you've done a long period of time? But you put us out there then you don't you don't want us to talk. You don't want to hear from us anymore. As you can see, I'm very outspoken. I'm very outspoken. I always want to voice my opinion and I still do today whether it's about here or not. But I should not only just have my rights restored, but I should have been given a chance to to come out and to be that productive member in society.
Josh Vander Kamp, Arizona
Vander Kamp, 27, lost his voting rights in 2006 because of convictions for a drug paraphernalia violation and possession of a burglary tool. He applied to regain his rights, but was denied last year. Now a husband and father of two children, he said family life made him a better person. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21
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It wouldn't be like, oh, I got my rights to vote back, yeah. You know, it would be cool, though, because, I mean, I would like to vote. I mean, I pay taxes and I'm definitely have my opinions in politics. So, I mean, someone's talking politics for me to even put in inputs, kind of just a waste because I can't vote anyways. I mean, like, why am I even talking about it? I can't do anything to try to change it. Not that my vote would necessarily change anything, but it would still be nice to have a voice.
Samuel L. Ervin, Tennessee
Ervin, 62, lost his voting rights in 1985 after a second degree murder conviction. After 20 years, he has regained his rights and now hopes to start an organization that would help at-risk youth. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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If felons aren't created equally, I'm not saying, you know, a felons should automatically have them. But if they're trying, I don't know what offenses may not should have them. I don't know. That's not my determination, but I think if a person is searing their heart and you are an ex up into it with no intent to continue to break the law, then yeah, I think you should have voting rights.
Shannon Mogonye-Ray, Texas
Mogonye-Ray, 38, lost her right to vote when she was convicted of drug possession and substance abuse. She regained the right to vote and now works as a contractor with El Buen Samaritano, a church group that works with low-income Latino families in Austin. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21
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You know, it's not some small election. I mean, this is a big year. And you constantly hear people saying, you know, if you want your voice to be heard, you have to vote. And it makes you feel, if you can't vote, it makes you feel like you're not somebody. And, you know, that doesn't do much for a person's self-esteem.
Manuel Castro, Arizona
Castro, 48, lost his voting rights in 1992 after he was convicted of burglary and drug charges. He's been sober for 20 years and works as a substance abuse counselor at Native American Connections, a Native American community development facility in Phoenix. Castro said he does not want to apply to get his U.S. voting rights restored. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21
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I think people like myself, that we come out of delinquency, we're trying to believe in becoming a productive citizen, that is still, there's a lot of discrimination involved. And because of that, people such as myself just want to live in peace, just want to kind of just get by day-by-day activities. And the system's not really, to us, it's like broken. So why are you going to be involved with the broken system?
Vikki Hankins, Florida
Hankins, 43, spent 18 years in federal prison for selling crack cocaine. She was released in 2008 but cannot apply to have her civil rights restored until 2017. After her release, Hankins lived in a storage rental and ate cheap canned sausage. She now owns a publishing company, has an associate's degree in paralegal studies and heads an advocacy group for criminal justice. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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When you're told that you cannot vote, that you cannot have your civil rights back, ultimately what is saying, in my opinion, is that we still do not accept you. I don't care how much time you've gotten done in prison. I don't care how you spent all of your 20s and 30s in prison, we don't care. We still don't accept you. That's what this is. Do you know how that feels? What that can do to someone's psyche?
Humberto Aguilar, Florida
Aguilar, 59, lost his voting rights about 15 years ago after he was convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy to possess with intent to sell cocaine. He has tried to get his voting rights back every year since his release and said he doesn't feel like a full citizen without those rights. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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you're still criminal. Let's face it, until you have your rights restored, your right to vote, right to go in and choose, the right to compete, the right to have an opinion in the political process, you're not a whole human being. When you are in prison, it's understood that you are a slave. When you come out of prison, you should have your rights restored if you pay your debt to society. Simple as that.
Eddie Walker, Florida
Walker, 61, served five years in prison for drug trafficking. As pastor of In God's Time Tabernacle of Jesus Christ Inc., in Orlando, Fla., he often preaches about civil rights restoration. He estimated that 60 percent of his parishioners – including himself – are felons who have not had their civil rights restored. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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You know, there comes a time in your life that you grow up. I want to exercise all the rights that I didn't exercise before. It's part of the makeup of an American citizen. Okay, once I've committed to crime, okay, my rights were taken, that's fine, that's part of the rule. But now that I have served my time, I've done what I'm supposed to do, now you go to changing the laws so that I can't get my rights back. So who's the evil one again in this situation?
Katrina M. Frierson, Tennessee
Frierson, 48, lost her voting rights after she was convicted of 17 felonies over nine years. Her rights were restored in time for her to vote in the 2008 presidential election, which Frierson described as one of her greatest accomplishments. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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Before my convictions, voting was a real essential part of my life. And, in fact, I actually worked on the voting election committee, meaning that I was the one that was sitting out at the polls at five thirty in the morning. When I received my voting rights, oh my God, it was like one of the greatest accomplishments. It made me a better human being, a better member of society. You know, it felt like a marriage. It felt like a birthday or graduation. But most of all, you know, it was a good challenge for me to be a better member of society.
Timothy McLaughlin, Florida
McLaughlin, 50, lost his voting rights about 25 years ago for trafficking cocaine. He traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., to plead for his civil rights and had them restored by the Florida Board of Executive Clemency on June 28. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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I think that people with convictions should still be able to vote, I mean, once their sentence is completed, I think that it shouldn't be so hard for them to get their rights back, depending on their crime. I'm very much into the politics side of, you know, you know, everybody should vote, and everything, their voice should be heard.
Gary Austin, Arizona
Austin, 41, lost his voting rights in 1990 after he was convicted of burglary and armed robbery. After he was released from prison in 2001, Austin owned and operated halfway houses in Tucson. His rights are now restored. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21
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I understand the argument that my individual vote doesn't matter. I understand it. I'm not discounting that. That's probably true. My individual vote and the course of millions of votes, maybe it doesn't matter. It's symbolic. There's a point to it. The point is that I am engaged and I have the right to vote and I'm going to vote.
Angela Smith, Tennessee
Smith, 37, lost her voting rights in 1994 after a felony theft conviction. She has never voted because of a drug addiction that began when she was 12 years old. Smith is now six years sober and said she is ready to cast her first ballot. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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What it means to me to vote now, it just means a lot. It means that I have a voice in my children's education. It means I have a voice in my community. I've never been a law-abiding citizen ever until now. And to know that I can help make them decisions that impact my community, impact the people that I work for and their rights, and just my children and my main influences of doing something like that.
Desmond Meade, Florida
Meade, 45, had his most recent conviction more than 10 years ago, when he was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is now a law student at Florida International University and president of the Miami-based Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which advocates for educating and restoring civil rights to people with felony convictions. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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in Florida, it is easier and easier every year to get convicted of a felony. If you catch a lobster and the tail is too short, you can be convicted of a felony for Florida. And according to Florida, you catching a lobster that's too short would result in you being denied the right to have your voice heard for the rest of your life. How much liberty can I have if I don't vote? You know, how much pursuit of happiness can I have if I can't have a say on what goes on in my community?
Joseph Clark, Arkansas
Clark, 52, lost his voting rights in 1988 after being convicted of second degree arson. Twenty-four years later, after going to Tallahassee, Fla., from his home in Arkansas to ask to have his rights restored, he was granted those rights. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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I've come here today to ask the forgiveness of the state of Florida for something that I was responsible for, but not the way it was wrotten [sic]. Try to keep out of situations where I've got to make bad decisions.
Sherri Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson, 44, lost her voting rights in 1995 after a felony theft conviction. She now runs an organization that helps felons re-adjust to society by teaching life management skills, preparing them for education and employment, and helping to restore their rights. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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If you look at my track record of going in and out, going in and out and going in and out, there is nobody out here to help the ex-offender to give us the resources that we need. And I just got really excited about being a part of something that is major, changing life. And that is what you do when you start to vote. You're changing life because you're putting an important person in it that has the same beliefs that you have.
Rosey Ruiz, Texas
Ruiz, 56, got her first felony conviction for drug possession in 1985 and was released from prison in 1995. She regained her voting rights in 1998. Rosey received a master's degree in social work from the University of Houston and started a nonprofit organization, Aspire to Win. The nonprofit's mission is to help people after prison, specifically those who've been disenfranchised. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21
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no taxation without representation. That is a lie because there are a lot of people that are taxed working, tax paying citizens that are not allowed to be represented, but they're not allowed to vote. And so as soon as I got off paper and I got my right to vote back, I immediately, the first day went down to register to vote. And I feel like I have a voice today and it means a lot to me.
Anthony Davis, Florida
Davis, 46, spent almost 20 years in and out of county jails and state prisons for repeat offenses, including possession of cocaine, selling and delivery of cocaine, burglary and escape. He is now a minister at Soweth of Seed Outreach Ministry Inc., in Orlando, Fla. He preaches several times a week at churches and on the streets. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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If it was any justice, then you would say a man had paid his time and then his rights would be restored. But how can it be justice and you're not giving my rights back? Why I got to pay again for something I already paid for? You hear, but you don't exist, you know? And I would love to vote. I would love to have a voice, not only in voting, but in my community, because it all starts with the community, the community needs the help.
Matt Carey, Arizona
Carey, 42, lost his voting rights in 2006 after he was convicted of forgery. He has to wait another year to apply to have his voting rights restored because he is on parole. Before he was convicted, Carey owned an electrical company. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21
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the best that I could do was to turn around and write to different senators or different congressmen and That was the only way that I could get my opinion out there or voice it should that should that ever come up on a ballot? I know that I'm not gonna be able to voice my opinion in that aspect But that doesn't mean that I can't make my voice heard in other ways
Reynaldo Diaz, Florida
Diaz, 60, lost his voting rights after threatening someone with a weapon. He's been working about 20 years to regain those rights, and the Florida Board of Executive Clemency restored them June 28 in Tallahassee, Fla. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
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And I feel like when I pay the society back, the death that I have, I should have my civil right restore automatically, but they don't do that anymore. Oh, they don't do it here, and that's a shame. You can win by one vote, and that could be mine. So, you know, if I want to change in the political office, now what I don't like somebody, I just couldn't say I'm not going to vote for you, but see ya.
Allen Jenkins, Tennessee
Jenkins, 50, lost his voting rights in 1995 after a drug conviction. As a single parent who has struggled to find employment since his conviction, Jenkins said he hopes to expunge his record - which would also restore his right to vote. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/News21
Open audio for Allen Jenkins, Tennessee
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I know that it is good to get my voting rights back because I'm a U.S. citizen. I should be able to vote for whoever I want and to give my opinion. I was born in this country. I'm a part of this country and everybody should, to me, should have a right to vote, you know, to give their opinion. I should not be condemned over something I've done in the past when that past is dead. But man, the government won't let it be dead and it's not right. I should have the right to vote.