Voting Rights for a Felon Crime has been around in every animal society, specifically humans since the beginning of time. There has always been people who are out there who are trying to con or seek revenge. Societies soon figured out that there needs to be a punishment for these criminals. Thankfully, punishment has changed drastically through the centuries. Humans no longer cut off a limb for stealing or burn people at the stake for witchcraft. Now punishment has turned more into serving time for what you have done. There are other checks like probation, parole, and fines that criminals are expected to carry out and follow through the years. In America, we have this notion that people cannot change and once they become a criminal they will always be one. Because of this, states want to be able to take away more rights of the convicted felon population. Fortunately, as a population we can always evolve and we can start to study the rights of criminals and determine what punishment seems the most logical that doesn’t dehumanize all criminals. We can start by taking a look at where convictions and punishments started, and how people determined who could vote in the …show more content…
Iowa is just now starting to re-debate this issue seven years later. It is important to look at constantly reforming laws and trying to create new ones because society is changing and the rules should change along with it. If we stood by our regular constitution and amendments without adding anything new, we would still have people who had no rights. That is not what America wants to stand for now so it is important that our country keeps transforming with the people that make up the nation. We are a nation that wants to keep growing and conforming to new societies and social norms, but with the growing incarceration rate we may need to start to reconsider who takes up much of our population and let them start to have a
When the Democratic System in America was founded in 1787, it was built on the sturdy ideals of equality and fairness. The founding fathers of the constitutional convention developed the Electoral college system with the best interests of the American people in mind, as the average person was highly under-educated and they did not trust them to make a decision as important as the But over time as society and even our democracy has changed, it has become ridden with flaws and corruption especially in the electoral college and voting system. The effects of the Electoral College’s inefficiencies oppose the very ideas our democracy was built off of. Because of the over-representation of small states, the broken promises of political equality, and
But they fail to realize that the system we have now throws anyone in jail no matter if the person committed the crime or not. They also fail to realize that the current system sentencing isn't organized or fair because there are people out there innocent and people who don’t deserve that time that was given for petty crimes. The current system doesn’t seek for justice, they see everyone who gets arrested as a criminal and feels they should be thrown away for a very long time and that isn't fair. Sentencing reforming is highly recommended due to the outrageous modern sentencing practices we have today. People go to jail or maybe even prison for such petty crimes that doesn't deserve the many years that were given to them.
They did this to limit the voices of minorities in politics and the policies passed that would benefit the minority groups in the U.S. These felon disenfranchisement laws were the only restrictions remaining after Jim Crow laws were rid of. On the opposing side, people value morality and claim the purity of the ballot box would be decreased by enfranchising felons. They fear that permitting felons to vote would promote hazardous laws and people to be elected into office because of the judgement felons are stereotyped to have. To avoid corruption the U.S. keeps these disenfranchisement laws in place to avoid corruption and ensure our nation is led by trusted officials not influenced by the opinions of those incarcerated.
The second and less well-known is that of the growth of economic justice during the after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. The economic aspect is one of the most successful and enduring features which directed from the Voting Rights Act movement, and enacted the economic boost in the economy. Since, now, African Americans and other minorities had a brief amount of rights, this sparked an opportunity to be seen as a taste of freedom. According to a Stanford professor, “Some of the economic benefits were apparent almost immediately after the enactment of the Voting Rights Act. Surveys reported more paved roads and streetlights in black residential areas, better access to city and county services, and increased black hiring in public-sector
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.
My topic is on the morality of implementing a literacy test for voters. The topic question is, “should people in the U.S. pass a scientific literacy test before being able to vote?” Voters are the population at center of this topic and deserve attention, because they are the building blocks of the U.S. Republic with great influence on government officials at all levels. This scientific literacy test will not be a series of questions and will not be used to quantify the test taker’s knowledge on scientific subjects, but rather will be two questions: 1. Are you aware of what the goal of science is?
Preston Abbe The Voting Rights Act and Texas Voter ID GOVT 2306-90 Voting rights in Texas has not always been accepted for all, but since Texas became a state of the United States of America in December of 1845, civil rights have evolved to become more universal for every citizen regardless of race or gender. Up until 1870, when the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, slaves and “freedmen” were not allowed the privilege to cast a ballot. And not until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920 were women allowed the right to vote. But even after the Fifteenth Amendment said “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” the states began to change their constitutions and
Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and afterwards, when GOP nominee Donald Trump won the Electoral College but not the popular votes, Americans displayed a disconcerting lack of civics knowledge and awareness. Many supporters of Hillary Clinton suddenly began to question why the Electoral College system is still used, while Trump’s supporters chanted for Hillary to be locked up. Whether or not Clinton should be imprisoned, the 2016 election raised a series of provoking questions: Why did it take so long for Americans to realize that the United States has never used a popular vote to directly elect a president? Why are some Americans surprised that now-President Trump is struggling to follow through on campaign promises like sending ‘Crooked
Felon disenfranchisement did not start in the United States. In fact, the practice of felon disenfranchisement began in ancient Greece and Rome before evolving even more in England with “outlawry”, by the time this practice came to the United States it began to evolve into what it is today based on the other nations practices (Grady, 2012, pp. 443-445). Felon disenfranchisement, for those who do not know, is taking away a felon’s right to vote. Usually, this only occurs when they are incarcerated, but some states also do not allow the ex-felons to vote even when they are back in regular society. In Michigan, felons are granted their right to vote again once they are freed from incarceration.
Creating the U.S. Constitution and the democratic values that are associated with, the Founders had some oversight concerning democracy. The electoral college an undemocratic idea within a democratic society. The people vote and, depending on the state, the electors either vote on the outcome of the popular vote or vote what they think. That create a less democratic environment all together. By using the electoral college, the government becomes less of a direct democracy.
In some countries, where voting at elections is considered a duty, voting has been made compulsory and is regulated in the national constitutions and by electoral laws. Some other countries have even made provisions of penalising and sanctioning the defaulters. Compulsory voting is not a new concept. Some of the first countries that introduced compulsory voting laws were Belgium in 1892, Argentina in 1914 and Australia in 1924.
“ While compulsion of any kind is a restriction, so is the compulsion to drive only on the right side of the road.” ( “Is It Time To Consider Mandatory Voting Laws? Worsening Voting Statistics Make a Strong Case.” by John W. Dean.) One way voter turnout can increase is by compulsory (required) voting.
I am Lily Stacy, and in two years I am eligible to vote. Every citizen in America has the right to vote, and when they turn eighteen years of age they may exercise that right. However, that is not the full truth. Right now anyone living in the District of Columbia are denied full and equal representation. Citizen in DC are not represented in congress or the house of representatives, also having no say in future supreme court justices.
Ladies and gentlemen, today we are here to discuss an important matter, should prisoners be allowed to vote. This matter is mostly based on opinions but such an important decision cannot be taken lightly. Furthermore, both sides of the argument must be taken into balance before a final decision is taken as this decision may impact the entire future of a country. Monsters that 's what they are.
In the United States, people always talk about freedom and equality. Especially they want elections could be more democratic. In American Democracy in Peril, Hudson’s main argument regarding chapter five “Election Without the People’s Voice,” is if elections want to be democratic, they must meet three essential criteria, which are to provide equal representation of all citizens, to be mechanisms for deliberation about public policy issues, and to control what government does. Unfortunately, those points that Hudson mentions are what American elections do not have. American elections do not provide equal representation to everyone in the country.