Many people claim it is a dangerous and risky if prisoners retain the right to vote in political matters. After all, they have somehow violated the laws of the state by committing a crime that led to their imprisonment. But democratic, constitutional states like Germany have not denied prisoners their right to vote. The following essay will argue in favour of that decision.
The idea of legal punishment by imprisonment is not revenge but retributivism because the government needs to make sure that these people are eventually able to reclaim a normal life. In Germany, the maximum penalty consists of 15 years. In cases of extreme severity of guilt, the penalty may be expanded up to 25 years. Afterwards, the prisoners are usually released again
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After all, a democracy grants all citizens equal rights. If a citizen breaks rules or laws, which lead to the endangerment or injury of other people, the penalty for the citizen is often imprisonment. The person is basically sent to prison so they are not able to endanger any more people. They are supposed to learn from their mistakes. During their imprisonment, they have to lose certain civil rights. Otherwise, it would not be possible to imprison them in the first place. But the right to vote is not a right they have to lose to enable the imprisonment. This right is not automatically excluded considering these two things do not contradict each other. Prisoners should therefore keep their right to vote.
In conclusion, taking away a prisoner's right to vote contradicts with the idea of imprisonment in a democratic society. The right to vote is unrelated to their crimes and is not automatically excluded when a person is imprisoned. Besides that, allowing prisoners to vote does not harm any other people. On the contrary, they might even want to help their loved ones outside of the prison. Furthermore, it gives them some feeling of what own choice-making feels like. And that may result in the prisoners exhibiting discipline during their time in jail because they know they can be released sooner if they behave