Pot times July 17, 2005
Cedar Rapids Students Lobbied For Change
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1125/a08.htmlNewshawk: Beth
Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 CEDAR RAPIDS STUDENTS LOBBIED FOR CHANGE
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2005 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:
letters@dmreg.com
Website: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Mike Cervantes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm
(Youth)
Columnist David Yepsen calls Gov. Tom Vilsack's executive order granting
voting rights to ex-felons simply a tactic to gain votes. There is another
possible reason that he leaves out. For the first time, a group of high
school students lobbied on behalf of voting rights for released felons.
Other groups, including the Iowa League of Women Voters, the Iowa Civil
Liberties Union and Justice Reform Consortium, as well as several legislators,
have worked on this issue for years and have made tremendous progress.
However, this year, a group of students from Metro High School in Cedar Rapids
made a full-fledged effort to change Iowa's policy toward people who have served
their time and completed parole or probation.
They gathered information from state agencies, lobbied at the Legislature,
negotiated with committee members on bill language, built a coalition of other
schools and individuals, presented proposals to the governor's office and
generated widespread press on the issue.
Several people, including the governor's staff, state representatives and
civil-rights activists credit the students' work as the impetus toward getting
this historic action accomplished this year. We should recognize the
efforts of these young people. Let's celebrate our democracy when it opens
the doors to more participation by its citizens.
Let us also celebrate the commitment of our young people when they fight for,
and sometimes even help enact, real changes in our society.
Mike Cervantes
Iowa City
