Let Felons Vote
George Will is right:
What compelling government interest is served by felon disenfranchisement? Enhanced public safety? How? Is it to fine-tune the quality of the electorate? This is not a legitimate government objective for elected officials to pursue. A felony conviction is an indelible stain: What intelligent purpose is served by reminding felons -- who really do not require reminding -- of their past, and by advertising it to their community? The rule of law requires punishments, but it is not served by punishments that never end and that perpetuate a social stigma and a sense of never fully reentering the community.
via @RadleyBalko
Balko's tweet about this was borderline sarcastic, but Will is indisputably writing better columns than he did 30 years ago.
Or perhaps it's just that only the good ones rise above the national (internet) conversation nowadays.
Either way, he's more admirable in this new & and cutthroat market for thoughtful opinion.
Crid at April 8, 2018 6:30 AM
I've known some felons. But most don't care about voting. Just like many Americans don't care about voting. And how does this stain them or keep them separate from their community? When I go to vote I don't know any of the other people voting. The people I do know aren't voting at the same time or place. So if you just don't show up who would know?
The far bigger issue is getting a job. With a felony conviction it is far harder to get a job. Especially a decent one. That is what separates you from your community.
Ben at April 8, 2018 6:50 AM
If we want to restrict the vote in a way that will create a helpful incentive, or at least avoid conflicts of interest, let's take the vote away from anyone receiving government checks, whether it's a civil servant's salary or the dole.
jdgalt at April 8, 2018 7:33 AM
Felons, by their own actions, have indicated that the welfare of society in general is not a concern of theirs. How is letting them vote before they've re-integrated themselves into society a good idea.
While I agree that it may be helpful to their re-integration into society by be allowed to be a full participant in it, perhaps making them wait a few felony-free years would be a good idea. Not too many years, however. You don't want that to be the carrot on a stick always jerked out of reach.
Voting is a serious responsibility. When we treat it as a frivolous activity we get presidential candidates like the ones we had in the last election.
Letting 18-year-olds vote allowed people who had at that point made no contribution to society have a say in its direction - based on the specious assumption that they would one day make a contribution and should have a say even before they do.
Politicians pander now. What kind of pandering will we get when recently-released felons comprise a major voting bloc?
Voting is the responsibility of a citizen, not a smiley-face sticker we give to children for good attendance.
I agree with Will in that disenfranchising people for life is wrong. But giving them the franchise along with their release paper is a recipe for societal decay. Let 'em earn their franchise back.
Will has always been a thoughtful and erudite advocate for fiscally conservative policy. We need more like him but, sadly, we are getting fewer.
Conan the Grammarian at April 8, 2018 7:43 AM
So, will the state also restore their rights to possess firearms, assuming that their crimes have not landed them in a "prohibited person" category?
Or is that right too far?
I R A Darth Aggie at April 8, 2018 8:44 AM
let's take the vote away from anyone receiving government checks, whether it's a civil servant's salary or the dole.
Only exception to that should be veterans receiving disability
lujlp at April 8, 2018 9:12 AM
Probably a right too far. But restoration is probably discussable with a suitable waiting period, especially for non-violent felons. As long as you don't hand a violent felon a gun along with his release papers.
Conan the Grammarian at April 8, 2018 9:32 AM
I don't understand why felons can't vote. I think prisoners should be able to vote by absentee ballot, myself.
NicoleK at April 8, 2018 10:55 AM
> I think prisoners should be
> able to vote by absentee
> ballot, myself.
Golly… Do you feel the same way about expats?
Crid at April 8, 2018 12:53 PM
We dont have national elections in this country. We do it state by state, and voting is a fuction of legal residency. so here in a hypothetical for you NicoleK.
Say you were born in Texas, but there was a warrant for your arrest, so you skipped out, and couch surfed with a buddy in Florida for a while. On your way back to Texas, you held up a liquor store in Tennessee, and were nabbed by the authorities, and sentenced to six years for armed robbery. You are now incarcerated in Colorado because of prison overcrowding in Tennessee,
Which state should you have the right to vote in?
Isab at April 8, 2018 1:29 PM
As I said before, felons have shown, by their own behavior, that the welfare of society at large is not high on their list of concerns.
Voting is not a prize we give for attendance. It's a responsibility and those who have shown they care not one whit for society's rules and benefit should not be given the franchise because they presumably will vote the way you want them to.
What if felons were shown to vote overwhelmingly Republican or against gun control, would you still want them to be able to vote?
Conan the Grammarian at April 8, 2018 2:24 PM
In Alabama felons can vote -
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/advocates_make_last-minute_pus.html
Snoopy at April 8, 2018 3:27 PM
If felons could vote, Nicolas Cruz could vote to take away your right to guns...
Snoopy at April 8, 2018 3:27 PM
Whether convicted felons can vote or not is not a battle I consider worth fighting since most felons have (as Conan has already said) don't give two cents about anyone else's welfare.
charles at April 8, 2018 3:59 PM
Why does none of you note that re-enfranchisement is already available via appeal to the state in which the conviction was obtained?
Yes, you can get your vote back, and the right to possess a gun - something that is still confusing to people, somehow.
(It's not "ownership" that is really the issue.)
Radwaste at April 8, 2018 4:08 PM
It sounds like he's arguing for the removal of the sex offender registry.
Patrick at April 8, 2018 5:28 PM
Conan:
That's rather cynical. Is it so impossible for a felon to reform and one day start caring about others? Or, perhaps to be more precise, to stop suppressing the empathy that has always existed.
Also, not all felonies are crimes with victims. So, it is entirely possible to have a felony conviction and still care about society.
Also, it depends on the state. Not every state denies felons the right to vote. In Vermont, for instance, you could be serving your sentence and still vote via absentee ballot.
Patrick at April 8, 2018 5:46 PM
Caring about society and its rules is not generally a characteristic of someone who commits a felony. As for reforming, that's why I suggested returning a felon's franchise after a suitable felony-free waiting period.
Very few felonies are actually victimless crimes.
Not generally. Felonies are considered crimes against society, hence the "People vs." trial convention.
And that is Vermont's choice as election laws, including voter franchise, is a state prerogative. Keep in mind that Vermont is a small state with a much milder crime problem than experienced by larger states like Illinois, California, and New York. Vermont, in fact, ranked first in safe state statistics. However, in November 2016, it's year-over-year violent crime rate rose 15.1%. Once that crime rate rises bit more, we'll see if Vermonters still want to let felons vote.
Conan the Grammarian at April 8, 2018 6:19 PM
I can see the sex offender registry thing Patrick. It is why I mentioned jobs. If you are looking to be a part of American society voting isn't that high on the list. After all 1/3 of Americans who can vote chose not to. For poorer Americans it is closer to 2/3.
Ben at April 8, 2018 6:19 PM
Pretty easy to be charged with a felony if a prosecutor wants to target you.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594035229/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523238404&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=three+felonies+a+day&dpPl=1&dpID=41g%2Bd14wufL&ref=plSrch
Abersouth at April 8, 2018 6:51 PM
Interesting point, Abersouth. My argument is based on the willing commission of a crime by the offender and does not address that fact that laws today are too often overlapping and contradictory networks with state, county, and municipal regulations often at odds - a net woven more to catch the unaware than to smoothly regulate societal affairs.
Conan the Grammarian at April 8, 2018 7:21 PM
I don't understand why felons can't vote. I think prisoners should be able to vote by absentee ballot, myself. ~ NicoleK at April 8, 2018 10:55 AM
Most people don't want a prison near them, This makes a few things happen, mainly larger prisons placed in out of the way (aka low population) areas. This often makes the prison population a large percentage of the local population. Large enough to overwhelm the local elections, for a population which by being incarcerated do not have first hand knowledge of local society/community outside of the prison.
Joe J at April 8, 2018 8:36 PM
"Also, not all felonies are crimes with victims."
How are you going to discriminate?
From a Charley Reese column in 1995:
Are these really citizens, even given that the "citizen" appears to have morphed into a consumer?
Radwaste at April 9, 2018 3:36 AM
Crid, expats DO vote by absentee ballot. Yes I do feel like expats should do that.
Isab, I'd say whichever state you were last a legal resident of.
NicoleK at April 10, 2018 6:34 AM
Part of the problem here is that we've made so very many things into felonies. Time was, a felony was Real Serious Business, and taking a felon's vote away for life made sense. But people like Piper (Orange is the New Black) Kerman, OTOH, are another story.
Technomad at April 10, 2018 10:50 AM
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