Should convicts be allowed to vote?

[Flubber]

Originally posted by gsmoove23
For what possible reason would you not allow a convict to vote, even while he is imprisoned?

I can see two reasons

1. Upon being imprisoned you lose a number of rights-- they are essentially forfeit and the right to vote could be one of them

2. If permitted to vote, Prisoners could make up a disproportionate number of voters in certain towns and could sway elections for any number of local positions such as the D.A., local sheriff or even judges in some states ( if I understand their system correctly). They would not be numerous enough to make a large impact on state or national elections but imagine a large prison in a small town. The guards may be residents of a number of nearby towns and it is possible that the residents of the prison could make up the MAJORITY of voters in a given town-- I see this as undesirable

[yavoon]

chegitz the idea of not doing something punitive to a person u've convicted of a crime because they might have been wrongly convicted is so logically unsound that it boggles the mind.

[Al B. Sure!]

as an aside, there's also the issue of economic oppurtunities for ex-felons. most businesses will not hire them... is there any movement towards giving business tax incentives for hiring ex-cons?


thanks

[Bereta_Eder]

Re: Should convicts be allowed to vote?

Originally posted by Albert Speer
If released from prison, should convicted felons immediately regain voting rights?

of course. they've done their time.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by gsmoove23
Nobody can say why this would be necessary, instead its a vindictive policy, some form of punishment that has no effect on rehabilitation and the only other demonstrable effect is it lowers the democratic voter pool. I don't understand how these laws could possibly stand.

Here's the reason it's "necessary." These laws are largely passed in "Republican" and/or Southern states. Black people tend to be convicted of felonies disproportionately to the percentage of crimes they commit. More simply, Black people tend to get tougher sentences for the same crime (crack v powder cocaine, for example). So, in these states, Black people are disproportionately stripped of the right to vote, which means whites and Republicans have a stronger hold on state politics.

Here in Florida, they used this BS to strip 91,000 legal voters of the right to vote, by claiming they were ex-felons (this doesn't included the thousnands of out-of-state ex-felons who were legally eligible to vote, but were illegally prevented from voting). Some people on the list were convited of crimes in the future (2007 is a date that sticks out). Others were of a different gender, but had similar names. Any connection at all got you knocked off the list (by law the company which handled the list for the state of Florida--which has billions of dollars in new contracts from the national Bush Administration now--was required to only knock off those who matched all of the requirements. Katherine Harris' office--you know, the state chair of Bush' election campaign, our Secretary of State--sent the company a letter telling them that only one match was necessary, in violation of the law).

Republicans will do anything to win . . . and they're proud of it.

[Tuberski]

Sure ex-felons should be allowed to vote.

But honestly, I doubt most ex-felons would vote even if they could.

ACK!

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Convictes should be allowed to vote during their treatment as well. They are still citizens of america and still have the right to vote.

[SlowwHand]

A goodly portion of Southern states are Democrat.
They don't want convicted felons voting either.

[Al B. Sure!]

1 in 4 black males in some states are ineligible to vote due to being convicts

[Q Classic]

i don't know.

i don't see a reason to keep them from voting, but neither do i see a reason to allow them to vote.

i say keep the status quo, because there's no pressing need to change it. they lost their right to vote--tough.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by yavoon
chegitz the idea of not doing something punitive to a person u've convicted of a crime because they might have been wrongly convicted is so logically unsound that it boggles the mind.

If that's the way you want to look at it. I'm not saying people shouldn't be punished. But when you make the system a living hell, you only make it worse for those of us who have to live with the criminals once they've done their time. Unless you're suggesting that every crime be life imprisonment or death, sooner or later we have to deal with these people. Maybe you want to punish them, but I don't want them "punishing" me or anyone I know, just cuz they're mad at how they were treated in prison.

Current recidivism rates are 60% in the US. Clearly, the current system isn't working. Interestingly, a gardening program at Rykers Island in NYC only has a recidivism rate of 10%. These prisoners aren't brutalized, and get quality time outside and learn a valuablen trade (as opposed to punching license plates or making calls for TWA--taking jobs from people who aren't criminals, btw). Gee, maybe they're doing something productive for society, actually reforming criminals.

[yavoon]

I dont know of the NYC program. can they expell ppl from the program? are they selective about who enters the program?

I'm not against effective rehabilitation but unlike liberals I place the onus on the person, not the society.

[gsmoove23]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
i don't know.

i don't see a reason to keep them from voting, but neither do i see a reason to allow them to vote.

i say keep the status quo, because there's no pressing need to change it. they lost their right to vote--tough.

As I see it you need a good reason to strip someone of their right to vote in a democratic country.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Tuberski
Sure ex-felons should be allowed to vote.

But honestly, I doubt most ex-felons would vote even if they could.

Most people in the US don't vote, so of course most ex-felons don't want to vote. Consider this, however, felons are disproportionately Black (and Hispanic). Black are more likely to vote, because it's a right won within living memory. Many of them have grandparents who couldn't vote. Bunnygrrl votes, even when she's got no one to vote for, simply because people died so she could have the right to vote.

The counter tendency, however, is that most criminals are poor. Poor people are much less likely to vote than other Americans. Criminals are also less educated. The less educated are less likely to vote (although they tend to vote Republican--fact, not a jibe).

[Al B. Sure!]

there are two other things to keep in mind with recidivism rates... one, the job oppurtunities for ex-cons are pretty lacking... and two, jail aint that bad compared to how some of these ex-cons would be living without good jobs or educations... a friend of mine's father is a prison guard and he says that many criminals return within a year of being released and don't seem to mind. jail is a roof over your head and food in your mouth... though ultimately, it's better to be free than in prison, thats still something to keep in mind