Posted on 11/01/2003 4:01:08 PM PST by yonif
A friend of mine was wondering about this topic and discussed it with me.
Do you think felons (those in jail and those who are "reformed") should be allowed to vote (not felons convicted of voter relating crime)?
There are those countries, such as Israel, which allow felons to vote (both in and out of prison, as long as they were not convicted of voter related crimes).
What do you think? Why is it a good or bad idea?
Gee's if one screws up pay your dues for crying out loud! I pay mine to the tune of 55% total tax burden and a good portion of it going to rehab to people that have shown very little concern for their fellow man.
What is MY, or anybody elses, crime to sentence me to this burden in life? I have no problem supporting the desitute, but my forced charity to those that are not charitable doesn't sit well with me.
There is no reason at all to get Dorthy's dog involved in this issue.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
Then keep them in jail longer.
No offense intended, but if you could, define "offender" to me it would be helpful. Shoot, I have offended customers numerous times in my life in business, I surely hope that it doesn't make me a felon.
I’m coming at this from a different angle than some other posters. Not every felon is a robber, rapist or murderer. I have a “felon” in my family.
She was living in a rural area in the Florida Panhandle with her husband and new baby. The husband was a commercial fisherman and was often away from home for a week or more at a time.
When she left New York, she failed to return her license plates to New York State Motor Vehicle Dept. They suspended her license and imposed fines. The plates were never found, but the fines were paid. Although, NYS DMV was contacted many, many times, they never got around to restoring her license. And Florida wouldn’t issue a license because of the NYS suspension.
Meanwhile, because she had neither family nor friends in the area, she drove with the suspended license to the stores, pediatrician, laundry, etc. when her husband was away.
She was pulled over one day by the local cops for a broken taillight and her secret was discovered. After that she was a target for the local redneck cops. She was an outsider, a Yankee.
Well, if you get too many tickets in Florida for driving with a suspended license, it turns into a felony and they got her. More than five thousand dollars in attorney fees to a good ol’ boy lawyer, about forty days in jail and a felony for the rest of her life. Oh, and she miscarried during all the commotion.
Fast forward ten years:
The husband is now serving our country in the Navy. She owns her own business and their second child is due in January. She was attacked in her own home this past May, but because she is not allowed firearms, she couldn’t defend herself. And she can never vote. Sort of ironic, considering her father-in-law and George W. have been friends since high school days, she would have voted Republican.
Expanded Voting Rights
1975: Connecticut (automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of sentence) Louisiana (probationers received right to vote) Oregon (probationers and parolees received right to vote)
1976: New York (automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of prison term or parole )
1978: Arizona (automatic restoration of voting rights for first time offenders) Louisiana (parolees received right to vote)
1981: South Carolina (automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of sentence)
1983: Georgia (automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of sentence) Texas (automatic restoration of voting rights two years after completion of sentence)
1984: Washington (automatic restoration upon completion of sentence if convicted post- 1984)
1986: Tennessee (automatic restoration upon completion of sentence if convicted post- 1986)
1997: Texas (automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of sentence)
1998: New Hampshire (inmates received voting rights through state court decision)
2000: Delaware (voting rights restored five years after completion of sentence) Pennsylvania (five-year post-prison waiting period eliminated)
2001: Connecticut (probationers receive right to vote) Nevada (five-year waiting period to apply for pardon eliminated) New Mexico (automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of sentence)
2002: Maryland (recidivists automatically receive right to vote three years after completion of sentence)
Restricted Voting Rights
1983: Georgia (disfranchised felons convicted in any state)
1990: Florida (disfranchised felons convicted in any court)
1993: Colorado (disfranchised parolees) Nebraska (disfranchised for non-pardoned out-of-state convictions)
1995: Pennsylvania (five-year post-prison voting ban)
1997: Colorado (disfranchised federal inmates and parolees)
1998: Utah ( disfranchised inmates)
1999: Oregon (disfranchised federal inmates)
2000: Massachusetts (disfranchised inmates) New Hampshire (disfranchised1 Year listed may differ from year change became effective.
Will Rush Limbaugh be allowed to vote?
Not yet. I am asking if he will vote AFTER the conviction.
Right to vote is not the only right lost. So is the 2nd Amendment right. But I'll bet the Dems don't favor restoring THAT right, do they? Is it because they want all of the rest of us to join them? Dems only want things that benefit them....just remember that.
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