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Felon Disenfranchisement Research Paper

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The idea of taking away a criminal's right to vote has been around since ancient Greece and Rome. A condition called "civil death" in Europe involved the forfeiture of property, the loss of the right to appear in court, and a prohibition on entering into contracts, as well as the loss of voting rights. Civil death was brought to America by English colonists, but most features of it were eventually abolished, leaving only felon disenfranchisement intact in some parts of modern America.The United States is one of the world’s most unyielding nations when it comes to denying the right to vote to citizens convicted of serious crimes. A significant 6.1 million Americans are forbidden to vote because of what scholars call “felon disenfranchisement,” …show more content…

Since 1960s, some U.S. states have maintained old rules or tightened them, while others have granted more rights. Today, people actually sitting in prison lose the right to vote in 48 of the 50 states (all except Maine and Vermont). Denying the right to vote to an entire class of citizens is deeply problematic to a democratic society and counterproductive to effective reentry into being a human with ‘civic duties’. But current prisoners only represent about one-fourth of the 6.1 million disenfranchised. The rest are either probationers under supervision in their communities, or people on parole after serving their prison sentences from soup to nuts. Thirty U.S. states deny voting rights to convicts on probation, and thirty-five states disenfranchise parolees. In the most extreme cases, eleven states carry on denying voting rights even to some “ex-felons” who have successfully fulfilled their prison, parole, or probation sentences.Most of americans agree that Ex-felons should be able to vote, yes, but so should prisoners themselves?! To some, the idea may seem risky, unnecessary or even unconscionable. But in fact, there are good reasons to embrace it. For one, americas constitutional ideals support the right of prisoners to vote, and denying it violates the concept of …show more content…

“I think the biggest potential impact [of restoring felons’ voting rights] would be changes to the individuals who are elected,-said Bridgett King, a government professor at Auburn University,- You might then see a reversal in the number of state legislatures that are implementing policies to limit options for women’s reproductive

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