Dorsey Nunn

Story Spotlight: Campaign Supporter

Dorsey Nunn has been a recognized leader in the movement to restore civil and human rights to current and formerly incarcerated people for nearly forty years. As executive director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and co-founder of All of Us or None, Dorsey Nunn has been a major catalyst for the success of the Ban the Box campaign, which has successfully removed conviction history from applications for public employment in more than 100 cities and eighteen states.

He has also worked to restore the right to vote to people serving time in jail or after completing their sentences. While Section 1 of the 14th Amendment has been key to fighting racial discrimination in the criminal justice system, Section 2 of the 14th Amendment (which deals with representation in Congress after the end of slavery and the three-fifths clause) implies that states can abridge the right to vote “for participation in rebellion, or other crime.” Within just a few years, even officers of the Confederacy who led the rebellion had their right to vote restored and were even serving in office. But today, one hundred and fifty years later, some states continue to deny the right to vote — for life — to people convicted of crimes. So instead of the 14th, Dorsey has used the state courts and state legislation to restore voting rights to thousands in California.

Dorsey is also one of the organizers of Quest for Democracy Advocacy Day, a statewide lobby day in Sacramento led by formerly incarcerated people and families with incarcerated loved ones. He is also deeply involved in the effort to fix our broken and unjust bail system. Dorsey shares his ideas about making the 14th Amendment more than just aspirational, and we believe his work to be a shining example in doing just that.