The Pros And Cons Of Felon Voting

728 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A call to action for felons voting rights

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 …show more content…

The idea of taking away a criminal’s right to vote and has been around since ancient Greece and Rome. Civil death is the loss of all civil rights because of a serious conviction. The forfeiture of property, the loss of the right to appease in court, and a prohibition on entering in contracts, as well as the loss of voting rights. Civil death was brought over by English colonists, but most of the aspects of the civil death originally were abolished except for felon disenfranchisement in some parts of America according to the National Conference of State Legislature. In Virginia, Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky, convicted felons permanently lose their right to vote, without pardon from the governor. Some states convicted felons must wait a certain amount of time after they complete their sentence before their rights can be restored. Other states, they have to reapply to have their voting rights back. The District of Columbia and 38 other states, most ex-felons automatically gain their right to vote after sentence completion. In Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote. They can cast a ballot while in prison. At the time in 2013, Governor McDonnell signed an executive order creating new rights restoration processes for persons with prior felony

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Adult Criminal Justice System

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    Furthermore, the “law and order” model was produced after a strong reaction between conservatives and liberal policies advocated by the national crime commissions. The conservative model originated in efforts to reexamine fundamental assumptions of the adult criminal justice system by a series of special study groups that began with the American Friends Service Committee publication “Struggle for Justice.” The committee’s desire to improve the predicament of prison inmates led to a report in 1971 that suggested that indeterminate sentencing and decisions about parole were conflicting and that they allowed biased judgment and improper criteria to control the timeframe served by inmates. Unfortunately, these motives for rejecting indeterminate

    Read More

  • What Are The Pros And Cons Of Probation And Parole

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    Parole is a controversial issue because its vase ways to debate the challenges and problems that will exist. It’s like a side effect to medication based on one’s effectiveness belief. In like manner, the public media allows others who aren’t immediately effected to become tertiary, and secondary victims. It is the door to open opinions. An inmate is released from a sentence given parole and then assigned a parole and probation officer. The one thing that will make probation and parole successful is the supervision of the program and rehabilitation or residential treatment center. This will support the goal to maximize the good behavior and minimize the harmful behaviors of individuals. Probation is a good program because it’s a form of rehabilitation that gives inmates elevate space to obey rules and regulations. On the contrary, probation is risky just like any new diet plan that people use to

    Read More

  • Should Felons Be Allowed To Vote Essay

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some people in our country can’t vote because they have felons for the same reason. They aren’t violent criminals, they just made a small mistake or two and now can’t have a voice in our political system because of it. You are in a sense taking away their voice and they think they no longer matter, they may even commit more crimes if they feel unwanted or left out. When released felons are released and have paid their debt to society denying them the right to vote it is essentially taxation without representation(3).

    Read More

  • Voting Rights Act Pros And Cons

    2349 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Voting Rights Act marked a significant shift in American democracy, ensuring the right to vote for all regardless of race, religion, or sex. The key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Section IV and Section V, ensured the overview of all state mandated voting laws, safeguarding constitutional values despite racial opposition. The breaking down of this provision under Supreme Court Ruling Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General has the potential to undo decades of progress to tackle racial barriers, isolating and withholding the right to vote for the weak, effectively dissolving democracy for the ones who need it the most.

    Read More

  • Disenfranchising Felons: Should Ex-Felons Be Allowed to Vote

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Should Felons Vote?

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Felon disenfranchisement

    2204 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many people believe that felons do not deserve the right to vote. For these people, voting is not an inherent right; rather it is a privilege given to deserving people that wish to make a positive change to their lives. Some believe that, “…there is no reason for a felon to vote or to debate about whether or not they have that right…they made the choice to break the law, so why should they have any say in making it?” {Siegel} In this point of view, giving felons the right to vote is similar to rewarding them. With the right to vote, felons are still able to sway decisions regarding the lives of a society they are no longer a part of. Felons are meant to be punished, stripped of numerous rights including that of voting. Punishments, then, are made to restrict a person, not give them more freedom and decision.

    Read More

  • Life After Prison: In Life After Prison

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    Once released from prison, he or she is deemed a felon. Losing the right to vote, not being able to serve on a jury, and inability to enforce his or her second amendment is just a few of the disadvantages of serving time, but this is just the textbook interpretation. There is no much more that is at stake when you step foot behind bars. Once a person gains their freedom the better question to ask is what wasn’t taken form them? Their job if there was one in the first place, their children, their family, and most importantly the part of the person that made them a member of society.

    Read More

  • Should Felons Be Able To Vote Essay

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    26, 2007 editorial "Another No Vote on Felons," published in the Washington Times: “Even in nearby Massachusetts, no stranger to progressivism, voters in 2000 supported a constitutional amendment to bar inmates from voting. The reason is clear: Most people think perpetrators of serious crimes have violated the public trust and cannot be permitted to help determine the future of the communities they harmed”. This view point is helpful to help undecided people see the potential harm of letting free convicted prisoners vote. Also, it is interesting how the very thought of convicted felons vote places such concern in the law abiding citizens’ thoughts. One may notice that particular past criminals may not have the best interest in what best for the community. Furthermore, one may notice that prisoners may be cut off from the events of the world, and wouldn’t have information to help them elect officials for the communities they may harmed. In, addition this may be true under the circumstance that some felons are not capable of making great choices for the community as a whole. As well as, if they have harmed the community they shouldn’t be able to vote on the wellbeing of the people they have

    Read More

  • Convicted Felons Should Retain The Right to Vote

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    Laws that prohibit felons from voting are a punishment above and beyond the one handed out by the judicial system. There is no uniformity to the laws barring convicted felons from voting. Laws vary. greatly from state to state. Almost every state prevents incarcerated felons from voting.

    Read More

  • What is Criminal Disenfranchisement?

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    Criminal disenfranchisement is defined as the loss of the right to vote by a person convicted of or sentenced to imprisonment for a felony. Since before the civil war, this practice has been a part of the United States justice system mostly as a means to handle the racial issues with voting but then also in regards to the felons and rebels that participated in the Southern “rebellion” during the Civil War. This practice has recently gained some popularity since a debate has developed as to whether it is unconstitutional or not. Is voting a right or a privilege?

    Read More

  • Should convicted felons have the right to vote?

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Mass Incarceration

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Should Ex-Felons Be Allowed To Vote

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    Should Ex-Felons Be Allowed To Vote Imagine that you are a hardworking citizen laboring to benefit yourself and those around you, but because of your past mistakes you're not permitted to participate in any voting activities. We're all human and we all make mistakes as kids and as adults. Many of us seek forgiveness for our mistakes and learn from them. Ex-criminals are not that different from us.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Jail And Prison Reform

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    It’s inevitable for jail and prison to have negative mental and physical effects on people. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration out of any country in the world, and most of the people locked up in prison and jail right now are nonviolent offenders. There are over four times as many Americans incarcerated right now as there were in 1980.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Felon Voting

Open Document