Should Prisoners Vote

[hazelf1]

Should prisoners in jail be allowed to vote:

In the uk they arn't allowed to vote in europe they are, and europe want the uk to allow it.

I think if the crime is bad murder, rape, crime against children, killing a cop ect. they should not more minor crimes then maybe let them vote.

what do you think

what is the situation in the USA

 

[Mash]

I think they lost their right to vote when they did whatever landed them in jail; but that's just my opinion.

 

[PurpleStyle]

If you live in a society where the individual's rights are valued at the highest level, and a person violates an individual's rights, that's a way of saying you've no wish to be a part of that society anymore. So why should they vote?

The double-edged sword comes from the fact that there are so many drug offenders in prison, which I think is a mainly victimless crime.

 

[jts963]

Should prisoners vote? Hell no. But people who have served their time should be allowed to vote. There are a number of states that don't allow ex-cons to vote and that should be unconstitutional. In 2000 the state of Florida used a flawed list of "ex-cons" to disenfranchise a lot of legitimate voters, including many who just had similar names to those on the list.

 

[hazelf1]

A point i would like to raise is that victims are somtimes on a life sentence themselves, long after the prisoner has long since been realeased, in so much as the attack or whatever remains with them, as does the loss of a person murdered the family never fully recover.

We often hear a lot about human rights and the rights of the prisoner but the victims tend to be overlooked.

I'am mainly talking europe and uk here, i know very little about the USA situation.

I should have put these notes and comments in at the start sorry, and thanks for the replies so far by the way.

 

[SupportGunner]

The very idea of democracy s that everyone have the speak their mind and have the possibility to adjust the society. Or who the next unwanted burden of society to be made immaterial? The poor? The non educated?

One thing will allways stay the same. There will allways be people wo desires power. One small step in wrong direction can start an avalanche that crushes society as we know it. Our freedom balances on a swords edge. The Bush administration is one example of how easy it is for a government to ignore its citizens.

If we make it illegal for criminals or ex.criminals to vote, think how easy it would be to forclose all oposition. During this war against terror many people have been arrested out of suspicion. They have been locked away far from our eyes and threatend as guilty.They were taken to prison camps around the world were human rights did not exist. And we abandoned them.
Even one of my own, a swede became a victim of this system. He was arrested by CIA and taken away from his family and friend. And we did nothing, cause we were not told about this until afterwards.

You must be brainwashed or just stupid not to be frightend by this. The only way to fight this is through democracy. Pure, untouched democracy.

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

No. There needs to be punishments for committing felony offenses. If you commit a crime which makes you a felon then you have lost your right to vote end of story. There are too many situations where people are just let off the hook when they should have thought about the ramifications of their actions.

 

[PhantomX]

here in the states your innocent until proven guilty so those in jail not convicted yet are allowed to vote once convicted you loose that right.
I agree with this

 

[Adam Tickles]

x

here in the states your innocent until proven guilty so those in jail not convicted yet are allowed to vote once convicted you loose that right.
I agree with this

I agree with this, and i believe it should be the same here in Britain (unless im ignorant enough and it already is)
Prison is for ppl who broke the law, so why should they get to contribute to the formation of new governments that decide law?
🙂😢huhwub😛issed:rolleyes

 

[desk]

No!

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

They should be allowed to vote, but their votes should matter not one whit, like our own votes. 😉

 

[Carnivore]

Skimming through the comments, I want to clarify how the US does things. I don't think we're sending a clear picture. In the US, voting rights are determined by state. In some states (12 of the 50), former felons cannot vote depending on the crime. In most states, ex-felons can vote after getting out and maybe after a probationary period. In Maine and Vermont, felons can even vote from prison. However, this system is complicated, and when people move from state to state it is up to the states to keep track. Many felons manage to vote despite not being legally able to, its very hard to document all of this.

Should felons get to vote? It depends how you view the State and the criminal justice system. Some view justice as punishment: by breaking the law and harming citizens you lose rights like the right to vote. Others view justice as defensive and utilitarian: criminals go to jail to protect the law abiding, and they get out once rehabilitated. Rehabilitated individuals seem like good citizens which deserve a vote.

My take? Those in jail shouldn't get to vote. It requires using state resources to facilitate. But once out, it takes a lot of effort for US states to prevent them from voting, and it frequently goes wrong (voter fraud). Not only is it easier to just let all free men vote, I think its fairer. Don't former felons (many, many of whom are minorities) contribute to society's discussion on our justice system, laws, and politics? I think so.

 

[jts963]

Skimming through the comments, I want to clarify how the US does things. I don't think we're sending a clear picture. In the US, voting rights are determined by state.

That's exactly a large part of the problem. Voting is a national right that is subject to the whims of individual states. A preposterous situation, like the abominable Electoral College.

 

[Carnivore]

That may be true, jts963, but I'm not sure the feds would be better. Then it's essentially all or nothing: Republican Congresses would ban felons, Democrats would reverse it. It'd create a mess for the states which would have to enforce it no matter what. Voting is done on a very local level, and its hard for municipalities to monitor whether Joe Smith who moved from Missouri is an ex-con. As a practical matter, I think they should be allowed too.

While I don't like the electoral college, I don't think its "abominable." It merely shifts voter turnout operations to swing states. Under a true popular vote, urban and suburban centers in partisan regions would be moved more effectively, and less emphasis placed on states like Ohio or Missouri. Different yes, but not significantly. Better yes, but not dramatically. If you live in Vermont, your vote isn't valued much either way.

 

[Mash]

This is why I don't get involved with politics.

When I'm researching the circumference of R136a1, it doesn't lie to me, or slander my name. The laws of physics don't change sporadically every couple of months, and it isn't divided into many opposing sub-groups that all hate each other for absolutely no valid reason. But hey, to each his own. Some people get off on that kind of thing.

 

[Carnivore]

Well, validity of values is inherently subjective. Therein lies the problem. Science accepts the premise of empiricism as truth. Politics can't even get that far. Heh, but I'm not sure I get off on it. "Ooh, baby, show me that energy policy of yours!"

 

[Mash]

Well, that's why I stay away from subjective themes like Politics and Religion, where the most common catchphrase is, "I hate you because you don't see things the way I do."

 

[Carnivore]

Yea, I don't debate that stuff much anymore. When a substantial subset of the population views faith, authority, and emotion as sources of objective truth, there's not much to be done about them. But that doesn't mean we can't have a rational discussion on, say, the normative role of ex-convicts in society. Just have to ignore the one word responses and appeals to irrationality.

 

[Mash]

Science is my favorite source of objective truth. I think ex-convicts should get the right to vote again. There's a reason they're called 'ex-convicts'; they've already served their time.
Granted, their time in the slammer will probably bias their vote, but it wouldn't be a democracy if biases weren't allowed.

 

[Rox_My_Sox1]

Uh...I'd venture to think Felons (at least the ones who are freed) have larger problems than not being able to vote.

 

[Kennethparker]

I think they should....

 

[Rox_My_Sox1]

Here's a better question. Should we get rid of life sentences?