Tanya Dugree-Pearson: "Disenfranchisement - A Race Neutral Punishment for Felony Offenders or a Way to Diminish the Minority Vote." Dugree-Pearson observes the discriminatory influence of disenfranchisement laws. She points out that one-third of disenfranchised voters are African American men, which is a much higher proportion than their prevalence in the general population. Although ex-felons can apply to restore their voting rights in several states, Dugree-Pearson purports that they are often either uninformed or lack the resources to restore their voting status. To reinforce this theory empirically, she presents the example of Florida, which she claims is “responsible for one-third of the disenfranchised population (Dugree-Pearson 382).…
Defining Felon Disenfranchisement Felon Disenfranchisement is the removing of a felon’s civil liberties while incarcerated and even past their prison sentence (Nation Conference of state Legislatures, 2016). Consequently, felon disenfranchisement could be seen as a very retributive punishment for felons. Individual states determine which rights are removed and may include: voting rights, eligibility for financial aid, the right to bear arms, the right to hold a jury, and other fundamental American rights. (Hammack, 2009). Many of these rights that are taken away are essential to the American way of life.…
Imagine a felony that has just served their time after they refused to pay taxes. His sentence was five years. It was November and the presidential candidates were getting ready to be voted for. Should this felon be allowed to vote? Felons should be allowed to vote after they serve their time because they have natural rights, the government lets them do other things, and they just deserve a second chance.…
Felon disenfranchisement has been around over 100 years and had shown just how having the right of voting taken away from you can impact the country profoundly. Felons who have served their time should be allowed to vote by federal law, not matter what state they reside in. It is said under the constitution that once you have been convicted of a felony you lose your right to vote, this law however was created to keep african americans from voting back in the late 1800s. The United States in not the same country it was 100 years ago, we have evolved and matured to the point where it is acceptable to let them vote once they have served their time. Forbidding fellow Americans of the right to vote, has impacted this country in more way than people realize, and prohibits millions of Americans in saying who they want their next president to be…
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, and Tennessee and Washington state permanently bar from voting felons convicted before 1986 and 1984…”…
should felons be allowed to vote The right to vote is a right that according to law is entitled to everyone, once you have reached the legal age of 18. But what happens if you break the law? Do you still have the right to choose elected officials, or once the law has been broken, has the right to vote been forfeited?…
In the ad, Real Change by the Liberal party, it begins with patriotic colors of red and white with momentous music and asks, “what does real leadership mean?” and answers itself on how Justin Trudeau can lead change. Throughout the ad it supports itself by presenting guest speakers from different cultural backgrounds, jobs, males and females speaking Canada’s official languages: French and English. They state the economy is going downhill with the current government, Stephan Harper and Tom Mulcair (NDP), who provides “no real ideas”. Therefore, with the special guests, Justin Trudeau uses to support himself to send an overall message that he can lead change for all Canadians by reducing taxes for the middle class and taxing more of the rich, for a stronger middle class. Since the recent phenomenon of political ads, political parties such as the Liberal party try and cater to prospective and loyal voters by attempting to create a connection with Canadians by featuring Canadian political culture and democracy with consideration of the aimed audience in…
Felons have violated the established “Social Contract Theory” demonstrating that a felon’s judgment is faulty, as well as the susceptibility of felons to recidivism. In addition, felon disenfranchisement laws are not a predominant factor in the social reintegration of a felon. Moreover, according to the 14th amendment: states have the authority to deny one's right to vote due to criminal behavior. Lastly, felon disenfranchisement laws are not inherently racist nor encompass any racially targeted laws. If a person rebels feloniously against any aspect of society, warranted by moral, social, and legal means, that person’s right to vote must be revoked.…
Nyquanesha Stacey Professor Howard ENC1102 (168898) 26 October 2016 Convicted Felons: Should They Have the Right to Vote? Felons, convicts, criminals that’s what they are called, they are the deviants of the world but even so they are still human beings, should they have the right to elect a “new chief of the free world”? or vote on new laws? Some people believe absolutely not they should not have the right to vote.…
Finally Professor Weaver of the University of Virginia and Professor Lerman of Princeton University make the argument in their works “Political Consequences of the Carceral State” that letting felons vote would not only increase their participation in other aspects of civil society but also increase their community’s participation. This is because felons and people closely connected to felons often feel a certain disconnect from the justice system and government in general, a disconnect that directly participating in civil services can help…
The presidential election of 1800 was debated between a Federalist, named John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican. The election was a heartbreaking and hard-fought campaign, where both sides believed that either candidate can severely damage the newly formed nation. The election defined a severe revolution because the republic party’s future was put at risk. Thomas Jefferson based his political campaign and ideas on the republican revolution. He discussed problems and solutions that were not brought up amongst the civilians.…
Felony voting: Unjust or rightful justice The limit put on all felons alike is an unjust systematic issue from the core and the question is why should their rights under the fifteenth amendment be taken away based on such a perplex situation. Many claim that taking voting rights from felons is simply the rightful punishment that should be put on ex-prisoners for the fact that they have priorly demonstrated not only dishonesty but also irresponsibility within their character when committing the said crime consequently due to these prior offences, and the lack of just “judgment” many believe ex-felons shouldn't be given the trust to vote on widespread controversial issues. What these people fail to understand is that voting not only installs a sense of responsibility within prior-felons lives it also…
Prisoners in the United State lose their rights to various freedoms but that does not imply that they should lose their civil rights. Prisoners are counted in the census and should be allowed to vote; they take a percentage of the population in each state. The newspaper is useful to me because It gives me facts of how many Americans can’t vote because they were incarcerated. The questions at the end also triggered more questions for my argument essay. For example, there are Americans roaming around each state who are serial killers, rapist, and cyber bully but haven’t got caught of doing the crime…
Furthermore, these limitations implemented on felons can be traced back to the democratic foundation of America as women, poor, African Americans and felons were stripped of voting rights (McLaughlin, huffingtonpost.com) which still continues for felons today due to the strict enforcement of laws. Many Americans consider this to be a negative impact within the democracy as the exclusion of felons from political involvement brings about racial discrimination within the society (Sidlow and Henschen 171). Limitations on voting has led to the presence of racial discrimination as African Americans who are felons are on the top of the hierarchy in comparison to the rest of the population (Sidlow and Henschen 171). Due to which there is an imbalance within the voting system as a significant amount of individuals are being underrepresented within the democratic process. Furthermore, due to felon disfranchisement and the idea of racial discrimination, questions are being raised regarding who goes to the prison in United States based on its high incarceration rates nationwide (Greenhouse, nytimes.com).…
When this biased districting was found, the court decided to redo the redistricting and shift part of one district to the other so that there would be equal representation of each party (Supreme Court Justices). Although redistricting based on party affiliation is important, it is not always the main cause. “While partisan gerrymanders have been accepted by the courts, racial ones have not. The Voting Rights Act requires map makers to consider race to a point” (Supreme Court Justices). Race clearly contributes to the way people vote, but it also is not allowed to be tampered with in many ways because there can be no discriminatory factors.…