Persuasive Essay: Should Prisoners Be Allowed To Vote?

In 1971, 1 out of 12 Americans were incarcerated. Since that time, the prisoner ratio has exponentially increased; today, that ratio is 1 out of 51. With that number continuing to rise, many problems result out of it. Prison overcrowding is a growing problem in the United States. The number of people being taken in has regressive effects on the purpose behind imprisonment. Though the prisoners are not there for a comfortable and enjoyable stay, ethical rights are being ignored. How can a someone carry out their sentence rightfully if the focus is taken away from them and put on the judgment of the courts and justice system? Prison overcrowding is without a doubt problematic and inhumane. The mandatory sentencing laws, lack of attention on

The inner moral compulsion to obey is what drives most social organizations. Sykes (2007) described several structural defects that occurred in the New Jersey State prison. Sykes (2007) argues that power in prison is not based on authority therefore prison officials have to find other means to get prisoners to abide by the rules and regulations. The ability to use force to maintain order on a large scale in the prison is an illusion. According to Sykes (2007), Certain privileges such mailing and visiting, personal possessions, time-off for good behavior etc. are given to the inmate all at once upon his or her arrival to the prison. As a result of these privileges given to the inmates upon their arrival, the prisoner have no real incentive

We are told that Australia is the “blessed country”. A country where our most appealing asset is our multicultural community and diverse society. In our anthem, we sing: “for those who come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share”. Ironically, this line is in the second verse, which most people barely ever sing. Perhaps this reveals the true attitude Australia has towards asylum seekers. People who flee from countries which are oppressing them, escaping for their lives. Australia’s inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and the mandatory detention policy means that asylum seekers are locked in a detention centre until they are processed, which can take years.

“Where to Invade next” is a social documentary movie. In this movie, Moore first visited an island prison in Norway, this prison just like a resort with only four guards for a prison population of 114, the prisoner could go fishing and sunbathing. That was totally amazed me for sure when I got this information, but on the following act, the warden explained that:“ I don’t understand why you think this is a strange idea. … The main idea is just to take away their freedom. That’s the only punishment we are giving them, We are trying to help them back to society.” those words sounds are not very reasonable to me, although it sounds like a humane idea, because no one could guarantee that those criminal not escape from the prison, but that fact is, it works very well and that encourages me to think deeper about it. Does the prison really deprive the freedom of

“The black family in the age of mass incarceration,” author Ta-Nehisi Coates toss back on the attempt of “The Negros family”, report by the American politician and sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s have benefactor to reduce America’s mass detainment, bringing about a country with the world’s biggest jail populace and the largest rate of detainment. In this article, he explained about the difficulties of black families about the racism that have continually arisen in times gone by to present day.

Juveniles shouldn’t be sentenced to life without parole. A punishment must be needed but, being sentenced to life without parole at a young age is devastating. Why should they even continue to live? They are young and deserve a second chance to rehabilitate. All we do is just throw these kids in prison and forget about the. What these kids need are treatment, especially because most of them were raised in a violent environment of some kind. Sometimes they grow up unaware of what’s good or bad. It may not be there fault. I’m not stating that they don’t deceive to be punished, what the need is a punishment but at the same time the support of a person.

Many speculations are made when it comes to allowing ex-felons or felons to vote. Felons should have the right to vote because everyone’s vote counts when it comes to electing a new president for the country. Felons are a part of the country they should be permitted to vote all the least. To some, felons or ex-felons should not be allowed the right to vote. This is because many people believe that felons have gone against their own country and defiled their country’s name. So the ones, who think felon’s or ex-felons should not vote, hold a grudge and begin to despise the idea of allowing a felon to vote. People want to continue with felon disenfranchisement and exclude felons from their own country. Although felons seem to have no morals. In all honesty, they do and they should be allowed at least one right that all Americans are able to share with one another.

Something will always need to be fixed in society because society is a reflection of us, and we are not perfect. Recently, there’s been many issues that have caught the attention of people living all across the world. Things such as police brutality, sexual assault in the workplace, and immigration law, just to name a few, but there’s also been an underlying issue that people are becoming more informed about, and that I believe matters - prison reform. Prison reform matters because in many instances, prisoners are treated inhumanely when they are locked up, and aren’t treated as humans when they have served their time. I believe we can bring about change in the prison system by changing the way we punish people who do commit crimes and focusing more on actual rehabilitation.

Detention does not allow for any civil liberties or rights for the accused. If a person in power

“For Life?” the question that just kept replaying in Lionel Tate’s head over and over again. He never thought he would be sitting in a courtroom at the age of thirteen. Tate had just been sentenced to life without parole. He did not really know what to think as he was charged with murdering a six year old. Tate was only twelve at the time of the murder and was now thirteen. The rest of his life, his future, will be in the same place each and every day. No change what so ever. He would not be able to live his childhood dream. Nothing. To some this is what he deserved. They might believe that Tate should suffer the penalty of his actions. This is how they feel towards thousands of adolescents that are getting charged with life without

When someone who commits a crime is determined to be mentally inadequate to be held accountable for the crimes they have committed, there are things that we do to charge them, but in a lesser way because of their mental capacity. Which begs the question, why are we allowing children to be sentenced to life, when their brains aren’t fully developed? When a child commits a crime we look over that, and stop seeing them as children. We shouldn’t sentence children to a life in prison when their brains are not only underdeveloped, but also missing a good portion of gray matter.

I am writing in response to the article, “Labor will look at dropping voting age to 16, says Bill Shorten” (The Sydney Morning Herald, 31/9/15). I firmly believe that the voting age in Australia should be reduced to 16 years of age. Today’s younger generation are taking on more and more responsibilities therefore making them more than eligible to have their say into who is going to run their country.

Before cheating on his wife of 14 years, before taking the life of his girlfriend, before spending 29 years locked up in the San Quentin State Prison, while living his life in California with his wife and three children, Larry Histon was an ordinary man with a successful career in high tech. Histon is one amongst the 6.9 million adults who are under correctional supervision- about 2.8% of adults (1 of 36) in the U.S. resident population. Although incarceration seems like an asset to society, it is, in fact, the culprit of poverty and many broken relationships. As a result of such a tremendous amount of imprisoned individuals, communities and families nationwide are constantly damaged and impacted negatively.

Looking back to the prison history. Incarceration has not always been a common form of punishment. Back then people wanted to reform and change the way

You brought up a subject that does not get enough attention as it deserves- the affect of incarceration on families. There is always lots of discussion and debate in the media about crime, victims of crime, police, and prisons. I do not think we hear nearly enough about the detrimental affect that incarceration has on families and communities. These effects can be great and long-lasting. Like you mentioned, one negative result is the loss of income from a missing, incarcerated parent. This must, in many cases, have a large, negative affect on families and their economic stability. It is difficult to be a single parent and if a parent is suddenly forced in this position when the other parent gets incarcerated, the family may have to move or drastically change their lifestyle to compensate for the lower income. This loss of income can be extremely damaging to