Debate Statement
Do you agree or disagree and why?
Do you agree or disagree and why?
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Convicted felons should not retain the right to vote
- Thread starter Jazzy
- Start date
i dont think they should have the right to vote..............they gave up the right to lots of things when they were convicted.............shouldnt have done bad things and end up in jail
we currently have the morons from the EU trying to force this on the UK.....feck em i say
we currently have the morons from the EU trying to force this on the UK.....feck em i say
How about the right to remain in elected office.
Say, just for the hell of it, In Congress:
http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_senators_and_congressmen_are_convicted_felons
Say, just for the hell of it, In Congress:
http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_senators_and_congressmen_are_convicted_felons
Smooth said:
Anonymoose said:
See we have a couple law breakers who can still vote, so why should other law breakers be restricted? It's pretty black and white, if you break the law and have paid your debt to society, you should be good to go, voting wise.
Smooth said:
People who have been convicted (or wrongly convicted) of a felony should have the right to vote if they've served their time and paid their debt to society.
As for child molesters, they should be rotting away in prison for the rest of their lives or get the death penalty.
I agree with some of the people above, it should depend on the crime.
Crimes should be classed similarly to drugs, if you're in jail for a Class C crime and will be out in less than 6 months shall we say, then sure vote I guess.
The issue with this is when people start comparing the weight and importance of a crime against another crime (murder against rape for example) then opinions get heated and well, I doubt any decision regarding classifying these for the voting system will be a popular one.
Crimes should be classed similarly to drugs, if you're in jail for a Class C crime and will be out in less than 6 months shall we say, then sure vote I guess.
The issue with this is when people start comparing the weight and importance of a crime against another crime (murder against rape for example) then opinions get heated and well, I doubt any decision regarding classifying these for the voting system will be a popular one.
This is a purely depends-on-the-convict situation in my opinion. Like it was mentioned before, some criminals have been wrongly accused and imprisoned, or are in prison for more minor offenses that don't necessarily question their mental stability on the whole. Yes, people make mistakes and get caught and imprisoned for those mistakes, but not every crimes is severe and not every criminal should have their right to vote stripped away from them. Especially if they have served their time and learned from it.
As far as the OP goes, not ending up in a jail cell is not proof you made only exclusively level headed decisions. Not all poor decisions lead to jail so not sure why those that do put you in a cell are put above those that don't. By the logic that making poor choices makes you unfit to vote would mean no one is fit to vote because all made a poor decision at some point in their life and there are some who probably made one that would lead to jail if they were caught.
Once released, and after a clearly stated period of time "back in society" without any further transgressions they should have the right to appeal to the court for the reinstatement of certain rights.
If said felon is already a member of Congress, as listed above, they should have the right to swim down the Potomac then out into the Atlantic until they reach France, where they may do as they please for the rest of their life.
If said felon is already a member of Congress, as listed above, they should have the right to swim down the Potomac then out into the Atlantic until they reach France, where they may do as they please for the rest of their life.
Bluezone777 said:
We have to have a tough standard when people are caught breaking laws and sent to jail to keep society working. When you do time in jail by jury of your peers you should never have the right to ever make a vote on how our society's future is.
TRUE LIBERTY said:
there's already a set standard on which certain crimes deserves the stripping of the right to vote... now, you're wanting to strip american's right to vote for everyone that goes to jail for anything and everything? that's pretty sad if you ask me...
+Justice said:
Every state Is different. Florida happily if you are convicted and receive jail time your voting rights are gone. But yes if the crime is bad enough to put you in jail by trial of your peers you should never vote again. Now if you ate later proved innocent that's another story.
Ya, I think that during the time they are in prison they lose that right, when they have done their time they get their rights back.
^ I wouldn't agree with that, my opinion is that during the period that someone is in jail, their right should be suspended. Other than that everyone is entitles to their rights.
People so often look at what people do and judge that way but the right way to judge is by the life they are living now not what they did in this life. This is why I can't support suspending a released felon's right to vote. Not all those who have felonies on their record hold the mindset nor live the life that they did when they got in trouble with the law. I rather let felons who are willing to commit felonies again upon release then take away the rights of a person who truly turned from their previous life of criminal behavior.
Everyone should have the right to vote for (or against) those that make the political decisions affecting their lives.
To my mind it's a separate argument that criminals are sometimes sentenced too leniently, about which we can always vote for those legislators who would bring in stiffer penalties.
To my mind it's a separate argument that criminals are sometimes sentenced too leniently, about which we can always vote for those legislators who would bring in stiffer penalties.
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