Disenfranchisement, in modern day, is a common consequence of felony offenses against The United States Government. In 1818 Connecticut passed the first felony based disenfranchisement law in the United states (Burkhardt 357). By the post-Civil War reconstruction era most of the country had followed suit (Burkhardt 357). Since the 1950’s the popularity of ex-convict disenfranchisement has dropped around forty percent (Manza and Uggen 493). Today The voting rights of felons and ex-felons are under much review. Individuals are much more likely to turn back to a life of crime and end up back in prison if they are denied basic civil liberties such as the right to vote. Large chunks of demographics, particularly minority groups, are denied the right to vote due large percentages of individuals within those demographics that are either incarcerated, or have been, and the varying voting polices from state to state disenfranchising those individuals, causing a gross misrepresentation of several peoples across the United States of America. In addition to the already existing problems, flawed systems used to keep tabs on felons and ex-felons has resulted in the removal of innocent individuals from voting rolls. The Felon disenfranchisement polices of today’s America are the source of several problems across the nation. Imprisoned felons should not have the right to vote they are being punished and are in prison for a reason, but ex-felons have served their time and deserve to have the right to decide in their government like any other citizen.
The United States has often been called a “melting pot” due to the myriad of cultures, ethnic groups, and races scattered wide across the country, and that is something to be proud of. Accep...
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... to odd racial disparity in Florida.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune Jan/Feb. 2005: 34-35. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Fineout, Gary. “Voting Rights Elude Some Florida Ex-Felons, Study Says.” New York Times 12 Mar. 2009: A20. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Manza, Jeff, and Christopher Uggen. “Punishment and Democracy: Disenfranchisement of Nonincarcerated Felons in the United States.” Perspectives on Politics 2. 3 (2004): 491-505 Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Mark, David. “Felons Voting?” Campaigns & Elections July 2002: 11-12. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Miles, Thomas J. “Felon Disenfranchisement and Voter Turnout.” Journal of Legal Studies 33. 1 (2004): 85-129 Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Uggen, Christopher, Jeff Manza, and Melissa Thompson. “Citizenship, Democracy, and the Civic Reintegration of Criminal Offenders.” Annals of the American Academy of Political an Social Science 605. (2006): 281-310. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
The topic of felon disenfranchisement has become a highly contested topic as of late. The current Presidential Administration in what would appear to be a hollow declaration and political posturing has recently directed Attorney General Eric Holder to decree the racially motivated and archaic Jim Crow driven practice be restructured or more likely abolished. And in what would appear as the trump card in an already racially sensitive society Atty. Gen Eric Holder states in his address to the Georgetown