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Convicted felons should have the right to collect their reward for winning the lottery. Today, felons already face a myriad of sanctions on account of their criminal history. For instance, felons may lose voting right, the right to bear arms, and limited employment opportunities. Moreover, thwarting felons from the chance of winning a lottery ticket is an unnecessary infringement on one’s civil rights. In the end, if an individual has enough money to purchase a lottery ticket he or she should be able to receive their prize.
This is certainly a conflicting issue. While it is fair to value the welfare of law abiding citizens over the welfare of convicted felons, placing restricting on felons presents the issue of those felons lacking the ability to become a contributing member of society. Like you mentioned, that can provide the push needed for them to return to crime rather than working towards a steady life of their own. Further research into the costs and benefits of such restrictions is necessary to determine whether these types of restrictions actually do benefit society overall like they intend to.
United States citizens with a criminal background should be allowed to vote in their state of residency Ontreal Harris Professor Ross Composition II Reference Shaw, Jerry. “When Did Ex-Felons Lose Their Rights to Vote? A History.” Newsmax. Newsmax Media, Inc.
The removal of this right dehumanizes prisoners. The streets of Texas are filled with blue or white collar criminals on bail or simply waiting for their sentence. Presently, if individual are found guilty of a crime, but they are not given a judicial sentence they are still allowed to vote; why should there be treated differently from convicted criminals who are locked up? However, allowing prisoners to vote while in prison would increase voting turnout and also Texas would gain the reputation of becoming one of the two states that allow prisoners to vote while in prison.
Felon Disenfranchisement: Is it Constitutional and Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote? Felon disenfranchisement is defined as, “Any convicted felon currently incarcerated or ex-felon now on parole or probation who cannot vote. ”(Brooks, 2005). There are nearly 5.3 million Americans who have been barred from voting due to criminal conviction (Okechukwu, 2022). This is important to consider because the United States is unlike any other democratic country in the world by doing this.
Racism is an ongoing issue which had been taking place for centuries. Racism can take various forms, direct, indirect, individual or institutional. Institutional racism however, has been questioned frequently recently in light of criminal justice system, especially and more noticeably in the US now, where many believe the police is treating/handling black people unfairly comparing to other ethnic groups. According to Macpherson (1999) institutional racism is where organisation does not provide appropriate service due to someone’s colour, culture or ethnic origin, and can take form of racial discrimination in forms of attitudes, behaviours and processes. Macpherson developed this definition when undertaking an inquiry of Stephen Lawrence, a black child who was murdered
They could see it as unjust. More likely, however, people would feel felons are not deserving of equal vote when they themselves have not committed any felonies. Additionally, managing to remove felony disenfranchisement won't solve any major issues. It will increase minority representation which is great except, these people are still labeled as convicted felons. The likelihood that they can gain a well paying job if any as an ex-convict is greatly decreased.
Felony voting: Unjust or rightful justice As of 2008 over 5.3 million Americans were denied the right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement laws. The United states is among the most punitive nations in the world when it comes to denying the right to vote and this has consequently caused voting rights to be a controversial issue for years now. Disenfranchisement can be linked back to centuries ago, in western countries, felony disenfranchisement can be traced back to ancient greek and roman traditions and was commonly used as a part of the punishment that was put on those convicted of “infamous” crimes and was a part of their civil deaths. Although, many people like myself believe that the limits that are being put on felons
Currently in America, voting rights for felons is a topic that does not have an equal consensus across states. In two states, Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote. While in others, they lose the right only when incarcerated and in the rest, this right is removed until completion of probation or pardon. Given that this country has the largest prison population, it is necessary for that percentage of the population to have a clear voice in making political decisions in order to have a fully functional democracy. Moreover, imprisonment serves as a punishment for crime(s) committed, but by punishing felons by taking away their right to vote, we are silencing them and stripping them of their rights to be a part of the society.
A felon is someone who has been convicted a crime of a serious nature. In the United States alone there are more than 7.1 million convicted felons today. When you are convicted of a felony you automatically lose your right to vote. I believe everyone that has a job, pays taxes, and has served their due time to society should be allowed to vote. In our country, every citizen is supposed to have the right to vote, as should felons because they do not lose their citizenship when they get put in jail.
Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, was perhaps the most racially segregated city in the United States and Dr. King believed it was the perfect time to speak up. He proclaimed “Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation [we] cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper (p. 3).” African American’s had reached a point where they were no longer moving towards freedom, but rather, asserting it. One of King’s major strengths involved changing the function of jails in society. Previously, jail was used as a threat of pain, intimidation, and isolation.
Sentencing disparity within the American Judicial system is a problem that exists across the nation. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, disparity means the markedly distinct in quality or character. Many times, disparity is used in conjunction with discrimination as if the two words mean the same, but they do not. Disparity will include a difference in treatment or outcome but is not based on an opinion, bias or prejudice.
First of all, a felon should not be allowed to vote because, their judgement is questionable. A felon is an individual who has committed a serious crime, typically involving violence, and usually serves more than a year in imprisonment. Children and mentally incompetent individuals are not allowed to vote due to their judgement being unquestionable (Shaw, Jerry 2015). A felon’s judgment is just as, if not more problematic. Not only is their judgement questionable, but individuals who commit felonies are typically untrustworthy.
One of the greatest challenges law enforcement are facing is providing effective policing for minority communities. Some factors that prevent minorities from gaining access to justice or being taken advantage of certain criminal justice services are language barriers, racial stereotyping, and cultural differences. Since the 30 's and 40 's, and even during the 60 's, civil rights activists damaged the police-minority relations in the United States, believing that police only interest are protecting white communities. A big explanation of why there 's a poor police-minority relations in the United States is racism on the part of the individual officers. Many minorities in the United States have continued to complain about being treated more harshly than whites and the Department of Justice believes that racial profiling and police discrimination will continue to be a big problem.
The main reason I believe criminals should vote is that voting helps with rehabilitation. Study shows that voting lowers the risk of committing another crime by 60%. If we are serious about slowing the doors at our jails and prisons, we need to engage not shun. Think about it we need to be giving opportunities not taking them away.
