Voting Ban for Ex-Cons Is a Lifetime Sentence

Most states ban felons from voting while in prison, and 10 provide that the prohibition can become permanent. Is this relic of common-law tradition constitutional in the modern age? A reluctant and divided Iowa Supreme Court has declined to overturn felon disenfranchisement. But even the majority opinion managed to suggest that in the future, the constitutional answer should be different. Other courts will be listening. Over time, such bans on those who have served their sentences can and should be overruled.

The Iowa law, which dates to the early years of its statehood, says that people convicted of “infamous” crimes lose the right to vote. At common law, infamous crimes included treason, felony and a category known in Latin as “crimen falsi,” which involved falsehood and deception.