Should Felons Have the Right to Vote? It’s Complicated.
I made it my mission to help my brother get his voting rights restored. I had no idea how impossible this would be.
Many people are surprised to learn I have siblings. I don’t talk about them often or bring up memories from childhood on a whim. Family is a difficult topic for many, but for me it’s especially challenging to navigate. Thus, I often avoid it altogether.
At 23 years old, my brother Cesar pleaded guilty to drug and weapon charges. He was sentenced to 12 years in East Moline Correctional Center, a minimum-security prison in Illinois. I was 11 when he went away, and I honestly don’t remember much about him from when we were younger. He lived with us until sometime in high school, when he dropped out. And then he didn’t live with us anymore.
I knew he liked the Chicago Bulls. I knew he played football and wrestled. I knew he ran with a gang known as the Vice Lords. I knew their colors were red and black and nearly all of his clothes were red and black. I knew he was smart and “rose through the ranks,” whatever that meant. I knew his friends had…
