The reasoning may go something like this:

If someone commits rape, murder, etc., he/she has no business making decisions for our society.

The above sounds about right, but if someone commits rape, murder, etc, shouldn't they also be dead/jailed?

The thought is supposed to be that once you have served your time, you have paid for the crime. So if someone makes a mistake at one point in their life (say at 17 anmd they are tried as an adult), they can never vote again? No chance for rehabilitated? I disagree with that.

I am not saying that current jailed voters should get absentee ballots, but at some point, you have to give people a chance.

The entry is too short, but there is much to said said for the subject matter. So much of what goes on in American politics can be traced back to the Civil War and Reconstruction.

An oddity of the situation not reached on the story is defining 'felon.' In most ways, low level felonies are not treated differently than misdemeanors. So, why the discrepancy in regard to the vote? Also, whether a crime is a felony is determined by the jurisdiction it occurs in. That really gets away from treating only serious infringements as felonies. The intent of the Fourteenth Amendment is quite diffferent:

The 14th Amendment permits states to deny the vote "for participation in rebellion, or other crime.

A topic that deserves more thought.

The big problem with disenfranchising felons is that it's a form of collective punishment. It hurts those socio-economic groups who's crimes are defined as felonies by diluting their voting strength.

I can see how racists would approve of such a thing.

what socio-economic group do rapists, pedophiles and murderers belong to again?

Don't felonies include a lot of crimes far less severe than rape, murder and child abuse?

And is it not true that the sorts of crimes committed by low-income groups are more likely to be classed as felonies that equivalent crimes committed by higher-income groups?

Tim - I understand what you're trying to say...I really do understand how this becomes a racial issue...I also understand how others can honestly believe that this issue has nothing to do with the color of ones skin, as much as it does the consequences of ones actions.

Martha Stewart is a felon, but not a murderer. She's also forever lost the right to vote, including AFTER she has paid her debt to society.

What about a woman who did her time after she killed her abusive husband in self-defense? She pays her debt in the pen, but still is a citizen without a country (voiceless) forever.

Tim, many of the felony statutes defining minor offenses as felonies date back to Reconstruction. Once the rebels regained control of government in Southern states, they sought ways to reimpose slavery, without calling it that. Sharecropping, in which former slaves were systematically cheated, was one way. Another was arresting, charging and convicting blacks as felons under pretexts. Jails and prisons then rented out the labor of the black inmates. Voila! Slavery, again. The consequence of one's actions that mattered was being born with dark skin. Angola, in Louisiana, was particularly known for the practice. Writer Ernest Gaines has examined the continuation of slavery by other means in Louisiana in his novels.

I'm not surprised you approve of an unfair practice that arose as the result of bigotry, Andy Marsh.

Diva - once again you try to make something out of nothing...is there anywhere in here that I said that I approve of this? I asked a couple of questions...I never said anything about supporting it.

Andy Marsh, you try to evade responsibility for your positions by saying you did not explicitly say X,Y or Z. For example, you have not explicitly said you agree with the Klan on xenophobia. But, your views as expressed in an entry and comments prove you do. Similarly, your comments on this thread, and the entry you wrote attacking inmates for gettng flu shots, reveal you have no sympathy for the segment of society. The only person you are deceiving is yourself.

Typo: getting flu shots

all I said about prisoners getting flu shots is that they shouldn't get anything more than the general population gets...you are right about one thing...I have no particular sympathy for the people living off the taxpayers in our federal prison system.

but hey...they vote democrat...so let's get them some absentee ballots!

Felons currently in a Philadelphia prison are voting absentee according to local radio WPST. College students were in the prison Friday and were having felons signing absentee ballots. The students were caught on tape by a local news crew. The warden denied that it happened until he was shown the tape and ballots.
Full story on Powerline Blog.

A falsehood. Get out the vote projects sent workers to jails to deliver ballots to inmates who are pretrial, or, if they have any convictions, have only misdemeanors. The GOP is trying to spin that as Democrats helping felons vote. It is completely legal for the inmates targeted to vote.

I have been convicted in 1993 served 10years of probation, and 2years house arrest w/a band on my leg. I have a full time job, and needed a partime job. worked for a dealership for 4 years, and counted 3000-20000 dollars daily for purchase of vehicles. so company got bought out by a new dealership they did crimal background check and fired me.. when does this ever stop/the crime we committed we live w/everyday of out life.. they wonder why some poeple going on not changing their lives cause they cant.. no jobs/no rights. cant get anything even car insurance w/out a background check.. who gets a second chance.. the ones w/money

The issue that kc raises is legitimate. Does a convict who has done his time ever really get a second chance in American society?

welll.......ahhhhhh....... statistically recorded int the constitution is the act of patritism in which all felons should obey.

I don't agree with the no voting argument. My husband is a felon and he can't vote. They say felons have made bad choices and so they can't make a good decision in elections. What about all the future felons or other people that don't make a decision worthy of the public but are voting. Are they making a bad voting decision just because they haven't been caught? The felons thend to vote Democratic, well, of course, the felons were voting Democratic before they committed a felony. What makes the decision of being Democratic different from being a felon and before they were a felon. Anyone who they think is so bad as not to vote is incarcerated. In some stories it is 4.7 to 5.9 million felons who can't vote. If they vote Democratic doesn't that show what our economy is actually like?

Damn. If we ever get an Administration in Washington with teeth there could be a lot of felons who will never be able to run for office or vote again. I like it.

In most states if you have served your "sentence" and are NOT on parole you are allowed to vote.

Parole is a provisional status between incarceration, and having actually paid one's debt to society. Few felons finish the sentence they recieve-many are paroled (to make room) years before their appointed term is up-this indicates then, that they are Still Criminals until their period on-parole is complete.

If you're in prison for a Felony, or if you haven't finished paying your debt (early release), then you shouldn't vote, or be permitted the right to bear arms,nor the right to hold a security clearance-this is part of the punishment for committing a serious crime.

When a Felon who is still on parole is registered to vote and votes, they are committing a crime, as is the person registering them. A Felony Conviction is evidence that the Felon is not responsible, and voting is a responsibility that impacts the lives of others. Non-responsible people should not be granted that kind of power, or allowed it.

Felons shouldn't be able to vote because you don't have a right to make laws if you aren't willing to follow them yourself. Voting requires certain minimum, standards of trustworthiness, responsibility, loyalty and those who have commited serious crimes against their fellow citizens don't meet those standards.

I do agree on some levels. People that have served their time and have learned their lesson are allowed to vote. But for those people still sitting in jail, who haven't done the time for the crime that they commited, shouldn't be allowed to vote because they haven't learned from their mistakes yet. Felons out of prison should be allowed to vote, not felons in jail.