Should Convicted Felons get Voting Rights Back?

[Outis]

I think anyone who voted for Obama should have their voting rights taken away for life.

Indeed. That _might_ make a Republican win possible.

[Darth Executor]

And realistically, we know this is the main issue.

The issue is inevitable. Liberals are evil so bad people will inevitably vote for evil.

[Darth Executor]

Indeed. That _might_ make a Republican win possible.

The Democrats are pretty smart. Offering the opportunity of rape, murder, and all around general mayhem with limited consequences is quite attractive to aimless young men. So attractive that they're even coming in over the southern border to partake.

[Bill the Cat]

Indeed. That _might_ make a Republican win possible.

It would certainly reduce the amount of low information voters.

[Epoetker]

Would you be okay with convicted felons, including those with multiple convictions for committing violent acts, being allowed to own and carry firearms after they "paid their debt"?

Terrible formulation. If someone's been murdering multiple people, you may as well give him a firearm and send him back to his gangbanger buddies so they can hopefully finish the job that you failed to complete.

But of course the proper answer in response to the OP is "only if they're black, because racist."

[Jedidiah]

Eric Holder is talking about restoring voting rights to convicted felons.

I don't like Eric Holder one tiny bit, but I don't necessarily believe that convicted felons should never again be allowed to vote, particularly for non-violent crimes.

Do you believe the commission of a felony should FOREVER cause you to lose your right to vote?

Yes! There should, perhaps, be a possibility of regaining the vote in a very few limited cases. Why permanent? One word, recidivism.

[rogue06]

I think that ought to be a period after completing a sentence that should be completed to demonstrate that the offender has indeed mended their ways before restoring their right to vote.

[Outis]

I think that ought to be a period after completing a sentence....

Are you discriminating against other punctuation?

[rogue06]

Are you discriminating against other punctuation?

Nuthin' personal

[seasanctuary]

Is voting incorrectly itself a felony? I don't see any reasonable connection at all. Perhaps we can forbid felons from wearing the color blue.

[supton]

I have not read up as to why it was put in place; I suspect it's to keep a large class of criminals from being able to vote and change something from being illegal to being legal. Or on the premise that if you are a neer-do-well and did a lengthy term, then really you shouldn't be able to vote, your conviction is proof of your ineptness in decision making.

[Cow Poke]

I have not read up as to why it was put in place; I suspect it's to keep a large class of criminals from being able to vote and change something from being illegal to being legal. Or on the premise that if you are a neer-do-well and did a lengthy term, then really you shouldn't be able to vote, your conviction is proof of your ineptness in decision making.

The pseudo-quasi-semi-official statement from the State of Mississippi is...
"If you aren't willing to follow the law, you can't claim the right to make the law for everyone else."

Read more: Why Can't Felons Vote? - TIME http://content.time.com/time/nation/...#ixzz2tDWMMgmj

[seasanctuary]

The pseudo-quasi-semi-official statement from the State of Mississippi is...
"If you aren't willing to follow the law, you can't claim the right to make the law for everyone else."

Read more: Why Can't Felons Vote? - TIME http://content.time.com/time/nation/...#ixzz2tDWMMgmj

[Cow Poke]

Well, yeah, then there's this... I thought this was a really DUMB "summary"....

[cite]
So here's the thing: Felons who are out of prison have largely served the punishment prescribed by the judicial system. Shouldn't that be enough? Penalizing them further by taking away their right to vote is not just unfair to them, it's bad for us. We'll be lucky if 40% of eligible voters cast a ballot on Nov. 7. What kind of a democracy is that?

Read more: Why Can't Felons Vote? - TIME http://content.time.com/time/nation/...#ixzz2tDYr3kXK
[/cite]

People are free NOT to vote - we don't force them. Sounds like he's saying "not enough people vote, so let's give the vote to felons, cause then it will be a REAL democracy!

(yeah, I'm being somewhat facetious, but I think that's a dumb justification for restoring voting rights to felons)

(I sure do miss the cite tags!)

[rogue06]

I'm not too sure that allowing convicted felons the right to vote made them less likely to be rearrested. I tend to think that it might be more likely that those who have decided to turn their lives around and become productive members of society are more likely to vote as they have decided that they have a stake in society.