Kenderia moore
Ms. Cooper
Ap language and composition
22 February 2016
Every year men and women lose the right to vote as well as these rights, once they become felons. Felons are people that have been committed heinous act against society, by being locked away, they are given time to understand their mistakes, and serve their debts to society, most felons learn to be better people. Felons are also less likely to commit crimes after they vote. Many ask should they be able to partake in making decisions for the better of our country. So, should ex-felons be allowed to vote after they have served their time?
Ex-felons should be given back their right to vote because they have served their debts to society, they are given time understand their
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By being locked away felons miss their families as well as see that they shouldn’t have to live that way.
a. Bandwagon appeal supports theory that felons believe since people aren’t committing crimes, as well as those who’ve committed crimes but didn’t get caught are free and able to be with family that they should too.
i. Theory makes felons see that they should be obedient and do what is expected of them so that they may return back home. ii. b. Family plays a big role in people’s lives.
i. Ex-felons are able to get the support they need ii. Family show them that they aren’t alone
II. Felons while incarcerated have ample enough of time to understand their mistakes.
a. They see what they did was wrong
i. Less likely to commit crimes ii. Want to make amends with those they’ve hurt or done wronging to.
b. They decide to change their life for good
i. According to a study felons two months after, try to start fresh after imprisonment. ii. According to the herald tribune, 30,672 ex-felons had their civil rights restored during 2009 and 2010.
III. We give felons back their rights and they’re able to prove themselves, as well as help make a change
a. Able to prove they aren’t just a bunch of
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Ex-felons are also people like everyone else.
i. Everyone makes mistakes, some are just bigger than others ii. Ex-felons are EX for a reason- they have served their time.
b. If we truly want people convicted of felonies to re-engage with society, become rehabilitated, and feel a part of a broader community, then our state should do everything possible to re-incorporate thee individuals into mainstream society.
i. It is not fair if thousands of people are unable to regain their voting rights because they are poor ii. If we want people to do better we must at least attempt to help them improve.
V. Currently fourteen states disenfranchise felons for life.
a. In six of these states, restoration of voting rights is essentially impossible.
i. In an excerpt of “Voting Rights”, titled “More Efforts Needed”, Bruce a. Dixon says Attorney general Eric Holder could take concrete steps such as passing the Democracy Restoration Act then maybe citizens would see that he’s serious about changing laws around disenfranchisement of felons. ii. Senator Rand Paul is taking the lead by drafting a somewhat similar bill to the Democracy Restoration Act, the Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act, for restoration of voting rights for those convicted of nonviolent
"Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no good law-enforcement reason … Although incarceration has a role to play in our justice system, widespread incarceration at the federal, state and local levels is both ineffective and unsustainable. . . We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate – not merely to convict, warehouse and forget"(Holder). Former Attorney General Eric Holder does not dispute that prisons play an important role in the justice system. He believes that along with punishing the inmate’s prisons should provide them with rehabilitation. With the already overpopulated prison system across the US there should be alternative for lesser nonviolent offences.
Today, the citizens of the United States must push Congress to formulate an oversight measure to fix voter disenfranchisement. By itself, Supreme Court Ruling Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder does minimal damage to the voting process of the United States. The court ruled discriminatory practices of district actions half a century old unconstitutional, but left a responsibility for Congress to modernize the Voting Rights Act, to ensure that no district nor individual is discriminated against. Given the history of the United States’s voter suppression and the original need for the Voting Rights Act, a new, modern voter equality policy is of dire importance.
The feelings of allowing felons to vote is chilling; those who have been to prison have committed crimes and are out to get their rights back. But it is clear that felons should be “disenfranchised because they have broken the laws,” says Edward Feser, a philosophy professor and writer. Yet people are still questioning whether it is moral to keep felons from getting the rights to vote. Disenfranchising felons is unintentional in racial issues, and is used to punish felons to teach them that once they've broken the laws, they have lost their voting rights as well, and it would also keep felons from violating fellow citizens' voting rights.
In the United States 2.2 million citizens are incarcerated on felony charges. Laws in America prohibit felons from voting. As a result, on Election Day 5.3 million citizens of America are disenfranchised because of crimes they once committed. Though they once broke the law, they have served their time and have been punished adequately in accordance with the American Justice System. Felons should regain full voting rights after their stint in prison.
One of the more controversial debates in today’s political arena, especially around election times, is that of felon disenfranchisement. The disenfranchisement of felons, or the practice of denying felons and ex-felons the right to vote, has been in practice before the colonization of America and traces back to early England; however, it has not become so controversial and publicized until recent times. “In today’s political system, felons and ex-felons are the only competent adults that are denied the right to vote; the total of those banned to vote is approximately 4.7 million men and women, over two percent of the nation’s population” (Reiman 3).
In America millions of offenders including men and women leave imprisonment in hope to return to their family and friends. On an article Prisoners and Reentry: Facts and Figures by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, in the year 2001 1.5 million children were reunited with their parents as they were released from prison. Also in 2005 the number of that passed prison gates were 698,499 and the number of prisoners that were released was approximated at about 9 million. Parole and Prison reentry has been a topic that really interests not only a lot of the communities around the world but is a topic that interest me. Recidivism is not only the topic that interests people but the offenders that get off on parole and how they cope with society after they
Felon voting laws limit the restrictions for a felon to vote on any election. “Felon voting has not been federally regulated because some people argue that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be tied to felon disenfranchisement and the Congress has the authority to legislate felon voting in federal elections.” Felon disenfranchisement is excluding people otherwise eligible to vote from voting due to conviction of a criminal offence, usually restricted to the more serious class of crimes, felonies. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures and The Sentencing Project, 1 in 40 adults were unable to vote due to a felony conviction in the 2008 elections. One purpose of the felon voting laws is the uncertainty of trusting
The United States is one of the only few democratic countries that disenfranchises convicted felons. An estimated 5.85 million people charged with a felony are banned from voting. Moreover, felon disenfranchisement laws are a form of racial discrimination because a large percentage of felons are Hispanic, Latino or African American that have been incarcerated as a result of racial profiling. Denying felons from voting is unconstitutional since the right to vote and cast a ballot is supposed to be the cornerstone of democracy. Felons who have completed their sentence should be restored their right to vote as they should be able to participate in elections just like every other citizen. Despite being charged with a felony, felons are also American
such a large number of people be denied a constitutional right? They have been excluded from
Travis, Jeremy & Waul, Michelle. (2003). Prisoners Once Removed: The Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities. The Urban Institute Press: Washington, D.C.
"Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws." Brennan Center for Justice. New York University School of Law, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
...he right to vote. I made a ten question survey that asked questions about letting convicted felons have the right to vote in major elections throughout America. Thirteen out of thirty high school students said that convicted felons should have the right to vote because they are American citizens. The other seventeen people I surveyed said that they should not have the right to vote because they had their chance to perform correctly in society and failed miserably. As you can now see, I have given you many reasons to see that convicted felons should not have the right to vote. They cannot be trusted with such a responsibility as voting for this country’s next leader.
In most states ex-felons are not allowed to vote. This takes away a large portion of the voting population because of how many ex-felons there are right now and the many more that will be in the future. Ex-felons may also have a very hard time finding a job or a place to live. Legally landlords are allowed to deny an ex-felon. In Carbondale Illinois rental properties owners “Home Rentals” does background checks to make sure that none of their potential renters are felons. If they are felons Home Rentals claims that they will deny them the privilege of living in one of their properties. Ex-felons may also have a hard time finding jobs. Not many employers are willing to employ ex-felons for the fear of more crime or less commitment. Though denying these ex-felons jobs will not help the economy, only giving them jobs can help that.
The Criminal Justice system was established to achieve justice. Incarceration and rehabilitation are two operations our government practices to achieve justice over criminal behavior. Incarceration is the punishment for infraction of the law and in result being confined in prison. It is more popular than rehabilitation because it associates with a desire for retribution. However, retribution is different than punishment. Rehabilitation, on the other hand is the act of restoring the destruction caused by a crime rather than simply punishing offenders. This may be the least popular out of the two and seen as “soft on crime” however it is the only way to heal ruptured communities and obtain justice instead of punishing and dispatching criminals
The next benefit is to the Bureau of Prisons and the correctional system in general. Every year there is an increase in the prison population, and many convicted felons are required to wait to ente...