HB282 (2017) - Definition of Moral Turpitude Act
- Status: Signed by governor
- Session: 2017 Regular
- Latest Update: June 5, 2017
This bill was passed on May 17 and signed on May 25. This new law clearly establishes which felony convictions are considered to be crimes of moral turpitude. These convictions result in the loss of the right to vote; however, individuals with these convictions may be eligible to apply to restore it. Since determining which crimes are of moral turpitude has historically been left to the individual county voter registrars to interpret who can and cannot vote, it has disproportionately affected the African American communities in Alabama. By defining which crimes fall within this category, voting rights can be restored to many whose crimes are not on this list and will not be refused to those who might have been discriminated against in the past.
2017 Alabama Legislative Report
The 2017 legislative session ended May 19, and to many, it seemed to be among the most contentious of recent years. In addition to the removal of Chief Justice Roy Moore and the resignation of Governor Robert Bentley, there were heated debates over many issues such as the federal court-ordered reapportionment, prison construction, confederate monuments, and a racist joke about monkeys.
By Rebecca Seung-Bickley, Windy Leavell
Speak Freely: The Alabama Governor Just Signed a Bill That Will Restore Voting Rights to Thousands of Alabamians
Approved in 1901, the Alabama Constitution disqualifies from voting any citizen convicted of a “crime involving moral turpitude.” That may at first seem racially neutral, but the document as well as the moral turpitude provision were designed with clear racist intent. The drafters intentionally sought to subvert the 14th and 15th Amendments’ protection against racial discrimination in voting by using the moral turpitude provision, in conjunction with discriminatory criminal justice enforcement, to target Alabama’s Black citizens.
By Julie Ebenstein
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