Felony disenfranchisement

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…

charges that are not “as bad”, such as possession of an illegal substance. The seven categories are: 1) disenfranchisement, 2)…

The concept of voting is defined to be one of the most significant powers held by all individuals within a democratic form of government. The Fifteenth Amendment addresses the voting rights adhered to the citizens of America (Epps, theatlantic.com). Tracing back to the ratification of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers rooted the power concerning suffrage rights upon the independent states. Due to the states having the sole authority in establishing the laws concerning suffrage, restrictions…

Disenfranchisement is the ultimate way to take away someone’s rights. If they cannot vote, they have no way to express what they want in this country, and that can have a major impact when 2.5% of the United States voting population cannot vote because of it. The United States has a higher percentage of people incarcerated than any other country, and it could be changing the direction our country is going in to keep ex-felons from voting. I think voting is a right people in our country…

If Congress passes the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, a proposed constitutional amendment, then voting rights can be restored for anyone who has completed their sentence for a felony, parole or probation. The initiative will take off if it, “receives 766,200 signatures and will take effect if it earns at least 60 percent of the vote.”(page 2). Florida has a long history of rigging its voting rights especially towards its minority…

leads to the racial inequality since more racial and ethnic minorities are convicted of these disqualifying convictions (Wheelock and Uggen, 2006). Lastly, felons experience a range of civic inequalities. Some civic restrictions include felon disenfranchisement, jury exclusion, and disqualification for public office. Also, non-citizens face the consequence of deportation back to their original country (Wheelock and Uggen, 2006). It is hard for a felon to become a fully function member of society…

The purpose of this essay is to critically discuss the issue of whether citizens should be made to undergo a political knowledge test before being allowed to cast their vote in elections. The essay will be considering this question from an international perspective, primarily focusing on The United States of America. The United States of America follow a democratic regime (Chou,2016), this essay will outline the effects this has on knowledge based tests on voting power for citizens. The research…

quality education. Disenfranchisement of African Americans is a huge problem. In fact, today more African American males are disenfranchised than in the 1870’s. This is mainly to do with felon disenfranchisement laws that deny felons the right to vote. People who are felons are disproportionately people of color. Research has shown that as much as 10% of the population in some minority communities in the United States are unable to vote as a result of felony disenfranchisement. The criminal…

and brown” (180). The “genius” of this new system of social control is that it is officially defensible on “nonracial grounds” (100). Mass incarceration uses ‘colorblind’ policies “ranging from racial profiling to biased sentencing, political disenfranchisement, and legalized employment discrimination” (179) to permanently marginalize black and brown people. As a result, poor whites are safe from being relegated to the “bottom of the American totem pole”…

right to vote should not be one of them. Taking rights away from ex-convicts is not a new trend. It is called “civil death,” or the loss of all or almost all civil rights due to a conviction for a felony. It originated in Ancient Greece and Rome, and was later brought to America. Felon disenfranchisement or the exclusion from voting is what I believe to be the number one punishment America has given to ex-criminals. Different states treat the punishment differently. Some states give the right…