No people in the United States rely more on the federal government than those who are housed by it, fed by it, employed by it, and barred from voting to change it. These people are incarcerated felons, and their disenfranchisement is a barrier to democracy and dialogue in America. According to The Sentencing Project, felony convictions have stripped 6.1 million Americans of the right to vote, enough to swing the popular vote in five of the last seven presidential elections. Of those disenfranchised, 35% are black, an extreme overrepresentation of African-Americans, who make up only 13% of the U.S. population. Despite accusations of racism from across the political spectrum, the Supreme Court maintains that felon disenfranchisement does not target people of color, but serves to punish the lawbreakers who do not deserve to vote.
This motivation …show more content…
Someone caught committing the crime of sodomy in 1961 lost his right to vote in every state in the country and was considered depraved. Today, the law against sodomy is defunct, and the idea of barring someone from voting because of his sexual orientation could never become more than that—an idea. This progress did not happen overnight. Change came through decades of debate and ballot measures promoted by activists. By disenfranchising felons, by saying that they are unworthy of participating in our democracy, we exclude them from those critical conversations. As ballot measures pop up across the country decriminalizing recreational cannabis, those who have been imprisoned for its use find their voices silenced. Even in states where recreational cannabis has been legalized, the laws doing so have not released those who were incarcerated when the ban was in effect. If those in prison were able to vote and advocate for their freedom, this would likely not be the
This motivation …show more content…
Someone caught committing the crime of sodomy in 1961 lost his right to vote in every state in the country and was considered depraved. Today, the law against sodomy is defunct, and the idea of barring someone from voting because of his sexual orientation could never become more than that—an idea. This progress did not happen overnight. Change came through decades of debate and ballot measures promoted by activists. By disenfranchising felons, by saying that they are unworthy of participating in our democracy, we exclude them from those critical conversations. As ballot measures pop up across the country decriminalizing recreational cannabis, those who have been imprisoned for its use find their voices silenced. Even in states where recreational cannabis has been legalized, the laws doing so have not released those who were incarcerated when the ban was in effect. If those in prison were able to vote and advocate for their freedom, this would likely not be the