Former Felons Still Barred From The Polls
Frank Brooks
August 02, 2007
"I was young and I was stupid, I regret it every day. I ain't sayin I didn't do it, but i've paid for my mistakes. It's a lost and empty feeling when they don't want you around. I've finally got my freedom, but what good is it now?"
That is part of the song "One Second Chance" by Jeff Bates, a former crystal meth addict who narrowly avoided prison on grand theft and drug possession charges. He's been drug free for over five years, became a country music star and sings that song to those who need forgiveness, and those who need to forgive.
Does any of that verse strike a chord with you? If your one of the millions of felons who are denied the right to vote, or if you are a friend or family member of an ex-con, it just might.
It’s everywhere these days. Some political figurehead is expounding upon a particular crime and the perpetrator “paying a debt to” society. In fact the entire idea of a judicial system is to dispense justice by imposing a punishment which would allow an offender to “pay a debt” to society. Society creates laws to avoid anarchy; an individual fails to adhere to a certain law, and therefore owes society. It all seems very simple when you look at it in this manner. But as most of us know, things are rarely that simple when dealing with the issues of crime and punishment.
For instance, if a criminal pays their debt to society by serving an imposed sentence in a correctional facility, why are they forced to continue paying more than the judicial system feels they owe? Why are fundamental privileges such as voting and owning a firearm restricted for those convicted of felonies? People have been educated to think a certain way, and in this thinking felons can’t vote because they broke a law, and therefore cannot be trusted to elect someone who is responsible for making laws. And of course, all felons are violent so let’s not let them own weapons because they will go out and commit violent crimes. After all they are felons, and all felons are violent right?
Now keep in mind that this way of thinking comes from the same system which makes it a felony sex offense for a drunken frat boy to moon passerby on the highway. This is also the same system which makes is a hate crime to utter a racial epithet and an expletive said to the wrong gender is sexual harassment. Congress is currently reviewing a bill which would make it a felony for church pastors to condemn homosexuality while delivering a sermon. Depending on where you stand morally, you might agree that all of these offenses should be crimes and people should be reprimanded in some form. But are we seriously saying that these people should be sent to prison and not be allowed to vote once they return to society? As if getting a job isn't hard enough, why don't we make things even worse then blame them for being angry. That's what felons deserve, no?
The United States Military has discretion to waive firearm restrictions for felons and send them to war. So we can trust these people to protect our country but they aren’t good enough to elect officials? Perhaps it runs deeper than our US Constitution stating that voting is a privilege which can be revoked. However, African Americans and women struggled for years to earn the “right to vote”. So which is it, a privilege or a right? Or do we define what voting is and who is allowed depending on what the issue is at hand?
There are rumors circulating as to why ex-con’s can’t go to the polls. They range from the fear that felons will somehow appoint rebel lawmakers and overthrow law and order to the stereotype that all felons are Democrats and if allowed to vote the Republican Party will falter. If felons had been able to vote, Gore might have won a term in the White House. If felons voted, maybe smoking wouldn't be under a public microscope. Felons are bad, so their votes would be bad too, or so we are told. It doesn’t really matter what excuses are made, the simple fact is that if someone has paid a debt to society then no further penalty should be imposed.
If we are futher penalizing them, then when we told them all they had to do what was serve a certain amount of time in prison, or pay a certain amount as a fine, or be on probation for a certain amount of years, well we lied to them when we told them what they had to do to "repay society" didn't we?
Where is the need to further punish them? How can we make them pay taxes, send them to war, yet alienate them by refusing them the idea that their vote can make a difference? How can you expect a productive citizen when they aren’t even afforded the right (or privilege depending on who you ask) to contribute politically? How can we allow the lazy unmotivated citizens of America to waste taxpayer money by getting government handouts to vote, yet keep the door shut on those making an effort to rebuild their lives?
Almost five million American citizens will not go to the polls because someone tells them they can’t. 48 states keep inmates at bay on Election Day. 33 states do the same to parolees. On probation? Tough luck if you live in one of 29 states that says you can’t vote. And if you live somewhere like Mississippi where they have doubled the number of offenses to disqualify felons from voting, political freedom may be a long time coming.
Our government tells us we should get more people to the polls while various states are looking for ways to keep people out. With ex-felons being disenfranchised over something that could make them feel again like a part of society, is it any wonder incarceration is up? And with the decisions made by non-felons in various city, county, state, and federal elections, would an ex-con at the polls really be much of a threat?
When Election Day comes and you go to the polls, think about this simple act you are doing, and think about the millions of people who have made mistakes and are still being punished because someone decided that further punishment is necessary long after a debt to society has been paid. After all they are just felons, right?
That is part of the song "One Second Chance" by Jeff Bates, a former crystal meth addict who narrowly avoided prison on grand theft and drug possession charges. He's been drug free for over five years, became a country music star and sings that song to those who need forgiveness, and those who need to forgive.
Does any of that verse strike a chord with you? If your one of the millions of felons who are denied the right to vote, or if you are a friend or family member of an ex-con, it just might.
It’s everywhere these days. Some political figurehead is expounding upon a particular crime and the perpetrator “paying a debt to” society. In fact the entire idea of a judicial system is to dispense justice by imposing a punishment which would allow an offender to “pay a debt” to society. Society creates laws to avoid anarchy; an individual fails to adhere to a certain law, and therefore owes society. It all seems very simple when you look at it in this manner. But as most of us know, things are rarely that simple when dealing with the issues of crime and punishment.
For instance, if a criminal pays their debt to society by serving an imposed sentence in a correctional facility, why are they forced to continue paying more than the judicial system feels they owe? Why are fundamental privileges such as voting and owning a firearm restricted for those convicted of felonies? People have been educated to think a certain way, and in this thinking felons can’t vote because they broke a law, and therefore cannot be trusted to elect someone who is responsible for making laws. And of course, all felons are violent so let’s not let them own weapons because they will go out and commit violent crimes. After all they are felons, and all felons are violent right?
Now keep in mind that this way of thinking comes from the same system which makes it a felony sex offense for a drunken frat boy to moon passerby on the highway. This is also the same system which makes is a hate crime to utter a racial epithet and an expletive said to the wrong gender is sexual harassment. Congress is currently reviewing a bill which would make it a felony for church pastors to condemn homosexuality while delivering a sermon. Depending on where you stand morally, you might agree that all of these offenses should be crimes and people should be reprimanded in some form. But are we seriously saying that these people should be sent to prison and not be allowed to vote once they return to society? As if getting a job isn't hard enough, why don't we make things even worse then blame them for being angry. That's what felons deserve, no?
The United States Military has discretion to waive firearm restrictions for felons and send them to war. So we can trust these people to protect our country but they aren’t good enough to elect officials? Perhaps it runs deeper than our US Constitution stating that voting is a privilege which can be revoked. However, African Americans and women struggled for years to earn the “right to vote”. So which is it, a privilege or a right? Or do we define what voting is and who is allowed depending on what the issue is at hand?
There are rumors circulating as to why ex-con’s can’t go to the polls. They range from the fear that felons will somehow appoint rebel lawmakers and overthrow law and order to the stereotype that all felons are Democrats and if allowed to vote the Republican Party will falter. If felons had been able to vote, Gore might have won a term in the White House. If felons voted, maybe smoking wouldn't be under a public microscope. Felons are bad, so their votes would be bad too, or so we are told. It doesn’t really matter what excuses are made, the simple fact is that if someone has paid a debt to society then no further penalty should be imposed.
If we are futher penalizing them, then when we told them all they had to do what was serve a certain amount of time in prison, or pay a certain amount as a fine, or be on probation for a certain amount of years, well we lied to them when we told them what they had to do to "repay society" didn't we?
Where is the need to further punish them? How can we make them pay taxes, send them to war, yet alienate them by refusing them the idea that their vote can make a difference? How can you expect a productive citizen when they aren’t even afforded the right (or privilege depending on who you ask) to contribute politically? How can we allow the lazy unmotivated citizens of America to waste taxpayer money by getting government handouts to vote, yet keep the door shut on those making an effort to rebuild their lives?
Almost five million American citizens will not go to the polls because someone tells them they can’t. 48 states keep inmates at bay on Election Day. 33 states do the same to parolees. On probation? Tough luck if you live in one of 29 states that says you can’t vote. And if you live somewhere like Mississippi where they have doubled the number of offenses to disqualify felons from voting, political freedom may be a long time coming.
Our government tells us we should get more people to the polls while various states are looking for ways to keep people out. With ex-felons being disenfranchised over something that could make them feel again like a part of society, is it any wonder incarceration is up? And with the decisions made by non-felons in various city, county, state, and federal elections, would an ex-con at the polls really be much of a threat?
When Election Day comes and you go to the polls, think about this simple act you are doing, and think about the millions of people who have made mistakes and are still being punished because someone decided that further punishment is necessary long after a debt to society has been paid. After all they are just felons, right?
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