It's Time to Let Felons Vote, Holder Says

[Redfish]

I agree. I personally have never agreed with barring felons from voting. Punish them with whatever jail time they earned and be done with it.

Depending on the crime, I also disagree with how hard it is for felons to get certain jobs. We set up an environment for repeat offenders by denying them the opportunity to return to society as respectable citizens.

I agree, once you have served your time, you should be free in every way. If the goal is lifetime punishment, keep them in prison for life, don't set them free and then make it virtually impossible for them to survive.

the problem is the definition of felon.

You have 18 year old kids who have yet to mature who commit felonies...such as stealing a car for fun.....or on a dare...and they are branded for life.

How can you compare that to a 35 year old man who tries to kill someone who looked at him in a funny way?

our laws and statutes define what is a felony. Don't like the definition? change the laws.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

Does that INCLUDE the right to own possess and use firearms?

Yes I was thinking about that after my post

 

[Redfish]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

Does that INCLUDE the right to own possess and use firearms?

I would require X number of years of clean record before restoring that right.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

The problem is that to be consistent, given the supreme court hypocrisy in Bush v. Gore, the dems really need to leave this as a state issue.

Personally, I've always thought the "war on drugs" was simply a political ploy, much like Nixon's southern strategy. But, my view is a minority down here in Miss.

War on poverty also.

 

[aaronleland]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

Does that INCLUDE the right to own possess and use firearms?

I'd say it should depend on the crime. If a firearm was used during the crime, yes.

EDIT: I should clarify, I mean yes, they should be barred from owning a firearm in that case.

 

[g5000]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

I never got the whole felon thing anyways, you did your time , so what's the point with the stigma?

I agree. I personally have never agreed with barring felons from voting. Punish them with whatever jail time they earned and be done with it.

I agree, once you have served your time, you should be free in every way.

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

 

[Redfish]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

I never got the whole felon thing anyways, you did your time , so what's the point with the stigma?

I agree. I personally have never agreed with barring felons from voting. Punish them with whatever jail time they earned and be done with it.

I agree, once you have served your time, you should be free in every way.

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

If there is a chance that the offender would commit another crime, he should not be set free. Sex offenders should be castrated. Female sex offenders should be forced to work in Nevada brothels at no pay.

 

[HenryBHough]

Would Harry Reid welcome the competition?

 

[g5000]

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

If there is a chance that the offender would commit another crime, he should not be set free.

So you would punish him for what he might do, on top of the crime he did commit. How is this any different? This is not "once you have served your time, you should be free in every way."

 

[Rocko]

Without looking at any statistics, I'm pretty sure felons overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

 

[Meister]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

I never got the whole felon thing anyways, you did your time , so what's the point with the stigma?

I agree. I personally have never agreed with barring felons from voting. Punish them with whatever jail time they earned and be done with it.

I agree, once you have served your time, you should be free in every way.

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

I really doubt any of them gave one thought to percentage of felon repeaters.
Most felons came up through the ranks to elevate themselves into the felons they are.
Not like they all have seen the errors of their ways and are now church goers.

Good grief, give it at least some thought on the matter and not just a knee jerk reaction.

 

[Redfish]

Would Harry Reid welcome the competition?

 

[g5000]

Without looking at any statistics, I'm pretty sure felons overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

I wonder if Jeff Skilling will vote Democratic when he gets out...

Since most felons come from poverty, and most poor people vote Democratic, it is not a great leap to assuming ex-cons vote Democratic.

But how many felons used to vote Republican who now vote Democratic?

 

[Redfish]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

I agree, once you have served your time, you should be free in every way.

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

I really doubt any of them gave one thought to percentage of felon repeaters.
Most felons came up through the ranks to elevate themselves into the felons they are.
Not like they all have seen the errors of their ways are are now church goers.

Good grief, give it at least some thought on the matter and not just a knee jerk reaction.

then give the all life sentences or the death penalty. Our system of justice says you pay your debt and then return to freedom.

Giving partial freedom after serving time is a continuation of the sentence.

Either the debt has been paid or not.

 

[Rocko]

Without looking at any statistics, I'm pretty sure felons overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

I wonder if Jeff Skilling votes Democratic now...

Since most felons come from poverty, and most poor people vote Democratic, it is not a great leap to assuming ex-cons vote Democratic.

But how many felons used to vote Republican who now vote Democratic?

I'm just saying, I believe that's the reason Holder wants more of them to allowed to vote.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I'm OK with it....You have either paid your debt to society or you haven't

If we want them to be good citizens when they get out, they should be able to act like citizens

I agree, once you have served your time, you should be free in every way.

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

I really doubt any of them gave one thought to percentage of felon repeaters.
Most felons came up through the ranks to elevate themselves into the felons they are.
Not like they all have seen the errors of their ways and are now church goers.

Good grief, give it at least some thought on the matter and not just a knee jerk reaction.

? How about you.... one of the reason they are repeat offenders is because they can't get a job or food stamps

 

[Redfish]

Without looking at any statistics, I'm pretty sure felons overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

I wonder if Jeff Skilling will vote Democratic when he gets out...

Since most felons come from poverty, and most poor people vote Democratic, it is not a great leap to assuming ex-cons vote Democratic.

But how many felons used to vote Republican who now vote Democratic?

the truth is that the vast majority of them would not vote. so this is really an academic discussion on whether a convicted criminal becomes a free person after serving his/her time.

 

[Meister]

So...do all of you want to see sex offender registries go away?

I really doubt any of them gave one thought to percentage of felon repeaters.
Most felons came up through the ranks to elevate themselves into the felons they are.
Not like they all have seen the errors of their ways are are now church goers.

Good grief, give it at least some thought on the matter and not just a knee jerk reaction.

then give the all life sentences or the death penalty. Our system of justice says you pay your debt and then return to freedom.

Giving partial freedom after serving time is a continuation of the sentence.

Either the debt has been paid or not.

No it doesn't. Felons that are released can no longer have in possession or in an area where there is a firearm.

 

[g5000]

Without looking at any statistics, I'm pretty sure felons overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

I wonder if Jeff Skilling votes Democratic now...

Since most felons come from poverty, and most poor people vote Democratic, it is not a great leap to assuming ex-cons vote Democratic.

But how many felons used to vote Republican who now vote Democratic?

I'm just saying, I believe that's the reason Holder wants more of them to vote.

We have to be careful about what thoughts and feelings and motives we attribute to others. That's just wishful thinking on our part.

Another possibility is that Holder may feel blacks are given harsher sentences than whites, and thus are unfairly treated by the criminal justice system, and that this has long lasting negative ripple effects which should be mitigated.

 

[nodoginnafight]

I'm enjoying the conversation. Personally, I'm torn. I can't bring myself to feel a whole lot of sympathy for felons, but I do appreciate the idea of clearing one's debt to society. This might be a mostly academic deiscussion (as has been pointed out) but it is an interesting one.