Felony disenfranchisement

According to a report published by The Sentencing Project, in 2010 more than 5.85 million adults could not cast their ballot to vote due to prior or current felony offenses. Felony disenfranchisement laws prohibit the voting of inmates while incarcerated under a felony offense as well as people on parole or probation. Distortion of the American prison system can convince people that state prisons are completely made up of vicious murderers and rapists. There are in-fact horrible murderers and rapists held in state prisons, however, violent offenders only consist of 13 percent of the prison population. A large 72.1 percent of prisoners are convicted of nonviolent offenses with no background of violence. The minority populations unfortunately are 20 to 40 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison than the white population in cases of both violence and nonviolence. Most of the ex-felons who were in prison for nonviolent offences endured the extra burden…

longevity of our nation thus far can be rooted back to the promised, basic ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The democracy that our nation prides itself on encompasses a multitude of rights, some of which being equality, freedom, and representation under the law. Perhaps one of the largest hot-button issues is felony disenfranchisement and how it contradicts the democratic ideal of equality, a word that is conveniently omitted from the Constitution. While felons lose…

criminal justice system" with "1.8 million of the 4.7 million ex-felons barred from voting are African Americans, felon disenfranchisement erodes the Democratic voting base of eligible African American voters" ( Uggen and Manza 780). Furthermore, this felon disenfranchisement is used against minority districts and pumps up white districts by using census protocol for political redistricting. Disenfranchisement is a tool that has taken the place of Jim Crow laws to impede the minority population…

convicted of a felony are not eligible to vote while incarcerated, on parole, or on probation. Voting rights are restored a couple years after the completion of all supervised release. Felons who have served their sentence and have followed protocol should have the right to vote in less than two years. Voting is vital aspect of our lives. Being confined for so many years, deprived of freedom and a few rights taken away, an individual would love to vote in a major election like this year. A felon…

our justice system and laws that is hardly the case. The US laws and policies are being enforced to restrict and continually punishing those persons with felony convictions from gaining employment, receiving welfare and government assistance, access to public housing, seeking student loans for higher education and the basic right to vote. Life after Parole The consequences of felony convictions have a long term effect on those individuals who have served time and been released. The stigma of…

Felons to Vote I. Introduction A. Hook- Quote B. Thesis: Felons should have ability to vote because they have served their time, they did not lose their rights, and they are still involved in society and the racism card tends to be pulled. II. Common Ground A. “Eight states -- Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, Virginia and Wyoming -- permanently bar ex-felons from voting without exception. Maryland and Arizona permanently disenfranchise those convicted of a second felony,…

Vicious Cycle: The Effects of Felony Disenfranchisement on Recidivism I. Introduction Americans have been conditioned to think of the criminal justice system as an organized bureaucratic machine that follows a neat and precise sequence of events. A person commits a crime for which they are arrested, they appear before a judge for sentencing and they take a hiatus from society for a few years while they pay their debt; after which time they will be fully rehabilitated and ready to rejoin their…

that prohibit this, but they have proved only to be detrimental to American democracy. Therefore, it is time for these states to repeal their disenfranchisement laws in the name of human rights and liberty. Voting is a right that every U.S. citizen enjoys when they finally turn 18. A fundamental process of our government, “voting is the cornerstone of a democracy”…

Approximately 21.4 percent of the African American population who live in Florida cannot vote in elections due to felon disenfranchisement (Lai & Lee 2016). As Patterson similarly explains, though when explaining the science of polling instead of felon disenfranchisement, using a jar filled with 1,000 marbles will represent the state of Florida for this explanation. This explanation will not even demonstrate either the number of felon disenfranchised Hispanic or Caucasian demographics in…

The Influence of Voting Once a citizen reaches a certain age, they are granted the right to vote. The certain age is 18 years old. If a citizen is 18 years old or older and they commit a felony and go to prison, depending on what state they’re is in, their right to vote may be suspended for a certain period of time or taken away completely. I don’t think it is fair how some states take away a felon’s right to vote once they get out of prison. States who enforce laws that take away the right to…