Abstract
Most jurisdictions deny convicted criminals specific rights rather than all civil and constitutional rights. The rights most often curtailed include the right to vote and hold public office, employment rights, domestic rights, and financial and contractual rights. State statutes and local ordinances are the traditional means for abridging the rights of convicted criminals. Alaska statutes currently suspend the civil rights of criminals sentenced to the State penitentiary during their prison and parole terms. Convicted criminals, however, have successfully challenged these laws and claimed certain rights such as access to the courts. Alaska court rulings indicate that an amendment to the State constitution to abridge the rights of convicted felons may be consistent with the protections of the Alaska constitution. No States have passed such constitutional amendments in the last 2 years, although constitutional amendments to stiffen specific criminal justice proceedings have received popular support. Footnotes, materials on North Carolina's laws, and law review article.
