Convicted Felons Essay

In our nation, when you are accused of a crime you go to jail. At the jail, you are given an amount of money you have to pay to get out of prison at your hearing, this is called a Bond. Bonds ensure that you go to court. If you pay all of the bond money up front and then go to court like you should, you get all of your money back. But people don’t usually have thousands of dollars to pay for Bonds.

The inmate population in prisons is ever so growing. In society, different parties and groups are uncovering flaws in our country, and one of them is how prisoners do not have the right to vote. Even though prisoners are held behind gates, fences, and bars, they are still citizens and are protected by the constitution. But do all the amendments and articles still apply to the inmates? This little wrinkle causes controversy on whether or not prisoners deserve the right to vote.

However , there are many controversies going on whether the former criminals to should have the right to vote again. Should they get the right to vote again? No, they should not because ex-cons have shown irresponsibility and dishonesty, they have violated the the rights of others, and they do not value society. According to, Voting Rights: 6 reasons Ex felons should not vote by Jerry Shaw, “Ex prisoners prisoners have demonstrated dishonesty and irresponsibility in their character by committing a crime, especially a serious crime and

People aren’t ready to forgive felons for what they have done in the past and believe they shouldn’t be given their rights back. If there exists a way for a former felon to regain their rights in some states they should at least allow clemency in every state that disenfranchises felons. If clemency exists than someone out there sees that some felons deserve to regain their rights and if they don’t deserve it they would probably end up in jail again, so former felons should be given their rights back after some sort of process to check whether they are actually ready to regain their rights. This process should be mandatory after serving your jail time so that you can easily regain your rights without having to go through the rough process of

“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

The judgment of those who have committed serious crimes is not only arguable but untrustworthy. The right to vote should not return to felons upon completing their sentence because, there is no way of knowing if the individual has since improved their character. Ex cons should have to go a certain amount time without committing any sort of crime before voting rights are restored. While some may feel not permitting felons to vote goes against the eighth amendment, not allowing them to vote is in the people’s best

A recently released felon making the right moves then we are denying them the very basic human right to vote. In 2010, out of the voting population, 2.5% were denied the right to vote because of a previous felony conviction. In recent years, 28 states have passed laws that allow convicted felons to vote but only once they have completed their sentence and anything that was given to do upon being released from prison. Once released, this means that they have worked off the punishment that

The large percentage also puts a different scope on felon disenfranchisement laws as these

All felons deserve to have the right to vote because they are still part of this country and this society. Some people have made several mistakes in their lives that they would love to go back in time to fix everything they did that made

Felon disenfranchisement is not only unconstitutional but also further institutionalizes racism. For example, in communities consisting of minorities like African Americans and Hispanics felony disenfranchisement unlawfully create a disadvantage for freedom of speech. As stated by Eric H. Holder, JD a US Attorney General “although well over a century has passed since post-Reconstruction …the impact of felony disenfranchisement on modern communities of color remains both disproportionate and unacceptable.” The act of taking away someone’s right to vote notably mirrors the act of forbidding African Americans to vote during the post-Reconstruction Era. Holder refers to the fact that taking away the right to vote essentially withdraws any opinions that minorities

I also believe if you are a convicted felon you have lost all of your rights until you have proven you are good again. What this means is that I think the police should search through your home from time to time. I think it will benefit because if the criminal is doing illegal things the police will find out and criminal activity would go down. This is already practiced by the term called probation which takes the felons 4th right

Incarceration also punishes offenders by depriving them of their liberty once the court of law has convicted. Moreover, incarceration deters criminals from committing further crimes

The current system that incarcerates people over and over is unsustainable and does not lower the crime rate nor encourage prisoner reformation. When non-violent, first time offenders are incarcerated alongside violent repeat offenders, their chance of recidivating can be drastically altered by their experience in prison. Alternative sentencing for non-violent drug offenders could alleviate this problem, but many current laws hinder many possible solutions. Recently lawmakers have made attempts to lower the recidivism rates in America, for example the Second Chance Act helps aid prisoners returning into society after incarceration. The act allows states to appropriate money to communities to help provide services such as education, drug treatment programs, mental health programs, job corps services, and others to aid in offenders returning to society after incarceration (Conyers, 2013).

Should Prison Records Be Expunged After Sentence is Served? When considering expunging a prisoner’s record there should be an abundance of factors that follows the final decision of whether or not to expunge a criminal record. Factors included should be what crime the prisoner committed, whether the person shows true remorse for the crime they committed, and if the benefits outweigh the risk of expunging their record. Criminals with lower level offenses have better chances of getting their records.

In 1972, former President Richard Nixon made his infamous statements regarding crime and drug abuse. In this speech, he declared a war on crime and drugs and intended to decrease the number of people using drugs and the amount of crimes that were committed. Since this declaration, incarceration rates in the U.S. have gone up by 500%, even though the amount of crime happening has gone down. One of the reasons why I feel our rates have risen, is because sometimes, we put people in jail when they don’t need to be there in the first place.