Should disenfranchising inmates of
their voting rights be allowed?
As Banks (2013) points put, “according to the Sentencing
Project, by 2008, all states other than Vermont and Maine prohibited inmates
from casting a vote while incarcerated for a felony” (p. 215). Now, all of those states that decided to
prohibit convicted felons from casting a vote may have the lawful right to do because,
as Banks (2013) also points out, under the U.S. Constitution, the Fourteen
Amendment provided for disenfranchisement for participation in rebellion, or
other crime” (p. 216); in addition, in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court also
interpreted the reference to other crime to allow disenfranchisement for any
crime” (Banks, 2013, P. 216). However, even though it may be lawful for states
to prohibit convicted felons from voting, I still don’t believe that it is
ethical to deprive all convicted felons of their right to vote, especially if
that person has paid his or her dues to society by serving their time in prison
for that crime.
For example, As Banks (2013) further points out, “1 in 4
African American men are permanently disenfranchised in five states that deny
the vote to ex-offenders” (P. 216). This basically means that even though these
people have paid their dues to society they are still being written off from being
able to have a say in the law and policy making like the rest of society; and, John
Kleinig and Kevin Murtagh have made an interesting point about this. According
to Banks (2013), they argued that “those affected by the decisions to
disenfranchise ought to have some say in the making of those decisions” (P.
216); they are basically saying is that those felons that are disenfranchised
should be able voice their concerns since they are ones that will be affected
most, and the only way for them to be able to voice their concerns is by being
able to vote.
I am not suggesting here that all felons should be able to
vote because, as Kleinig and Murtagh also argue, “there may be some offenses
that justify disenfranchising, such as electoral offenses and offenses
representing rejection of the states authority” (Banks, 2013, p. 216). However,
I believe that before these states start depriving every felon of their right
to vote that they should first consider the type of crime committed because, as
pointed out earlier, some offenses may not justify disenfranchisement or having
a person banned for life from casting a ballot. For example, if someone gets
caught with crack cocaine and served his time in prison, would it be fair or
ethical for that person to be prohibited for the rest of his life from casting
a ballot? I don’t think so.
Reference
Banks, C.
(2013). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice (3rd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
You are correct, if a person has paid their debt to society, then their voting rights should be restored. When an inmate is released back into society, they have supposedly been re-evaluated as being fit to do so. There is no need to make someone continue to pay for their crimes by relinquishing their right to vote. Once released from prison, in good standing, then that individual should be entitled to the same rights that other members of society have.
ReplyDeleteThe punishment should fit the crime, those states that remove all felons from voting are exercising lazy judgment. It takes too much effort for some states to determine which criminals should or shouldn't be allowed to vote. Many criminals are swept under the rug of felons and lose that right to vote.
ReplyDeleteI think that the punishment should fit the crime, depending on the felony that was committed will or should determine the ability to vote or not. It should also include whether or not it is a life time ban or temporary. It will have to be done on a case by case basis as most sentencing is done. It would be much more fair that just blanketing all felons with the inability to vote. Good points.
I agree with all the comments that were made. The punishment should fit the crime. Every felon shouldn't have the right to vote. If you commit murder, you shouldn't have the right to vote. If you commit a petty crime, you should have your rights restored once you have paid your debt to society. Unfortunately, some people think that once you commit a crime, your debt to society is never paid and you should always be treated like a criminal.
ReplyDeleteEvans: This is a well-written, thorough blog. Professor Taylor
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