Prisoners are deemed unfit to live with the rest of society, why then should they be able to have influence over the society they are unfit to live amongst by being allowed to vote on it's leaders?
prisoners voting
- Thread starter skyblue
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Prisoners are deemed unfit to live with the rest of society, why then should they be able to have influence over the society they are unfit to live amongst by being allowed to vote on it's leaders?
i beleive punishment and rehab run concurrently as such the right to vote should be there from day one
yes it is deemed that they need to be segregated from the main stream but not always for life, the intent is to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into a society in which they will have a say in government by voting
I don't believe that they can really be rehabilitated, you can't force that one them, only a person who actually WANTS to change can be rehabilitated, the point of prison should be to try to rehabilitate them but rather to keep them away from normal people, they should not be allowed to vote, they forfeit that right when they choose to commit their crimes IMO.
seem you allude to two categories of prisoner the hard core life who cares not for rehab and will never see the light of day and the repentant guy who wants to change, in any event i highly doubt the numbers are high enough to justify the administration of a program that decides who does not and who does deserve the right, i say give everyone the right, most of the hard core would probably decline anyways and even if 1005 of all inmates voted i doubt it would make a dent in the outcome of any elections
and that makes me think of another thing, in the US dont you vote for local law enforcement/sherriffs?
An interesting concept - inmates voting in or out thsoe that have ultimate control over them
During a rehabilitation stage, I personally think it's important for their reintegration into society.
I used to. But I do believe that punishment should be harsher than it is. Christ, on my current income, a prisoner has a better standard of living than me, and that appalls me.
Punishment, I think, should be seriously hard labour and solitary confinement and oatmeal for dinner. No TV, no games, no nothing. Just lots of time to reflect on what they've done. Once they've done that for a good portion of their sentence, then they can get rewarded for good behaviour by being rehabilitated slowly and reintegrated into society.
seem you allude to two categories of prisoner the hard core life who cares not for rehab and will never see the light of day and the repentant guy who wants to change, in any event i highly doubt the numbers are high enough to justify the administration of a program that decides who does not and who does deserve the right, i say give everyone the right, most of the hard core would probably decline anyways and even if 1005 of all inmates voted i doubt it would make a dent in the outcome of any elections
and that makes me think of another thing, in the US dont you vote for local law enforcement/sherriffs?
An interesting concept - inmates voting in or out thsoe that have ultimate control over them
yeah we vote them in here, and I don't think that is an "interesting" concept at all, I think it is a sickening concept, Inmates should not have the right to vote, I can see giving them back the right to vote once they've been released, but it depends on their crime.
Why should a prisoner, who has broken the rules of society, be given the same right to vote as a person who has abided by the laws of society? If you decide to break society's rules, you shouldn't be allowed to influence them through voting. It's sort of like expecting to enjoy the benefits of a union without paying dues. You can't have it both ways.
However, I do believe that prisoners should be given the right to vote once they're released. In the USA, felons lose suffrage forever, which is stupid. It's contradictory to tell criminals we want them to integrate into society, and at the same time deny them certain rights once they're integrated.
Also, I think it's stupid for Britain to allow the EU to dictate their domestic policy. I'd be annoyed over this if I lived in the UK.
However, I do believe that prisoners should be given the right to vote once they're released. In the USA, felons lose suffrage forever, which is stupid. It's contradictory to tell criminals we want them to integrate into society, and at the same time deny them certain rights once they're integrated.
Also, I think it's stupid for Britain to allow the EU to dictate their domestic policy. I'd be annoyed over this if I lived in the UK.
Actually I've looked into the laws and there are only 12 states in which Felons permanently lose the right to vote.
http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000286
that is an interesting doc, thanks for researching
Yeah it was very interesting, I'd always heard that felons permanently lose their right to vote, this thread got me thinking about that so I checked into it and was very surprised with the results, there are even 2 states that will allow ciminals to vote from within prison.
edgray;1743990 As for the perennially unemployed said:
I think he meant that people who WON'T look for work he thinks of as criminals.
i was more suprised that some states permenantly take away voting rights even after release and all fines paid etc etc, i will dig deeper into the site to find out which ones, that is totally wrong imho
the states that will permanently take away voting rights are:
Alabama
Arizona
Delaware
Florida
Kentucky
Mississippi
Nebraska
Nevada
Tennessee
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
Alabama
Arizona
Delaware
Florida
Kentucky
Mississippi
Nebraska
Nevada
Tennessee
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
so even after being releeased, (reformed possibly) having paid the price and being a free person you cannot vote - that is horrible
I have to agree, only the worst of criminals should be denied the rights to vote after being released, the murderers, the rapists and the child molestors.
I have to disagree. No matter how horrendous the crime, a felon should be allowed to integrate into society once they're released.
Murderers and Rapists don't deserve that second chance IMO, they chose to forfeit their rights when they committed their crimes.
Then, they should be kept in prison. No sense releasing them into society if they can't be integrated.