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Do you think convicted felons should be allowed to vote after serving their sentence?
Debate Information
Convicted felons are not allowed to vote after servicing their sentence. Do you think they should and if so which party would benefit from their vote and why?
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If convicted felons where allowed to vote, which party would benefit the most?
It is an interesting debate. To me there are a few questions: 1) is it a good idea to let convicted fellons vote post sentence? Not sure that's a great idea because that is part of the post-conviction penalty. 2) who would benefit the most? I would think that likely democrats because most of convicted fellons (less white collar crimes) are not Republicans.
We shouldnt let them vote. That is the price to pay for being a convicted fellon. That may sound crule, but I would argue against that position. If we were to let convicted fellons vote that would benefit Democrats.
I am not sure why we wouldn't let them vote. If they served time and were released, these folks suffered enough. That would send them the right message that we want them integrated as part of the society. I don't have any reliable stats to back it up, but I would think they are mostly democrats. Not sure how legit this link is, but it says 7 out of 10. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/jail-survey-7-in-10-felons-register-as-democrats/article/2541412
I believe the privilege of voting should be reserved to those who can put society ahead of themselves. Felons, by virtue of their actions, have demonstrated that that they put themselves ahead of anything else, and thus should not be allowed to vote.
The problem as I see it is that the original intent of disenfranchisement for felony convictions is that the list of felonies has grown exponentially.
Years ago, only very serious offenses were classified as felonies. Murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, grand theft, arson, etc. Today, things like taking a photograph of an agricultural facility, or simple trespass on a designated construction site are felonies.
I don't have an issue with disenfranchisement for serious crimes like murder, arson, etc. Disenfranchisement for taking a picture of an orange grove from a public street seems beyond reason, in my opinion.
@MattInFla I agree with you, but the problem you pose is more an indicator that our legal system, like so many of our institutions, needs a major overhaul. It will happen sooner of later, either before or after it crashes. If we change this law now, it will be very hard if not impossible to reestablish it when the system is made more efficient.
I tried fo research this topic, and it seems that different states have different rules for voting post eviction. I don't know why that cannot be standardized across all states
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1) is it a good idea to let convicted fellons vote post sentence? Not sure that's a great idea because that is part of the post-conviction penalty.
2) who would benefit the most? I would think that likely democrats because most of convicted fellons (less white collar crimes) are not Republicans.
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http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/jail-survey-7-in-10-felons-register-as-democrats/article/2541412
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Years ago, only very serious offenses were classified as felonies. Murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, grand theft, arson, etc. Today, things like taking a photograph of an agricultural facility, or simple trespass on a designated construction site are felonies.
I don't have an issue with disenfranchisement for serious crimes like murder, arson, etc. Disenfranchisement for taking a picture of an orange grove from a public street seems beyond reason, in my opinion.
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@MattInFla I agree with you, but the problem you pose is more an indicator that our legal system, like so many of our institutions, needs a major overhaul. It will happen sooner of later, either before or after it crashes. If we change this law now, it will be very hard if not impossible to reestablish it when the system is made more efficient.
Good to see you again Matt
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I don't know why that cannot be standardized across all states
http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000286
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