A Government Run By Criminals

The article "Holder: Felons should not lose their voting rights permanently" on the Daily Kos political blog really caught my attention as I was frantically searching for a piece to write my next blog assignment about because it was something I was not even aware of. This particular blog site is written more towards the Liberal spectrum of the political ideas and I tend to lean more toward conservative point of view of things, but nevertheless, I still found this post very insightful.

The article by Timothy Lange (alias "Meteor Blade"),a sixty-eight year old blogger from San Francisco, California, starts out by describing the Criminal Justice Conference address by Attorney General Eric Holder toward the issue of the recent states laws that take away the voting rights of convicted felons forever. "It is time to rethink the laws that permanently disenfranchise people who are no longer under federal or state supervision," says Holder to the Leadership Council on the Civil and Human Rights Criminal Justice Forum in the excerpt of his address that follows Lange's introduction into the controversial topic of choice. Holder also states "These restrictions are not only unnecessary and unjust..... By perpetuating the stigma  and isolation imposed on formerly incarcerated individuals, these laws increase the likelihood they will commit future crimes." Following the except, Lange describes the various laws throughout various states that pertain to the subject matter listing instances from states such as Florida and Virginia. He states "In Florida, felons must appeal for a clemency ruling from the governor to get back their franchise." He also mentions that Virginia requires that felons convicted of non-violent offenses now have their voting rights automatically restored. Next, Lange allusions to a 2012 article in the University of Richmond Law Review about felony disenfranchisement in Virginia that quotes Dori Elizabeth Martin. Concluding the article and revealing his take on the subject, Lange writes "If the goal of temporary incarceration is rehabilitation, as supposedly is the case, how can a person be fully rehabilitated if he or she cannot exercise one of the basic rights of an American citizen.......can you truly say you are represented if you have no opportunity to choose your representative?"

Now for my opinion, I completely disagree with the idea that felons should be able to vote. Yes, it is a basic right for an American citizen. But once you commit a crime that is so bad that it is considered a felony and hinder the rights of other citizens in America, I believe you forfeit your own rights. I mean honestly, if someone has made the decision to commit a crime out of poor judgement should we really allow them to use that poor judgement to impact OUR country. NO! We definitely should not! I believe that a process of appeal after several years with proof of better judgement could be set in place for citizens that are no longer incarcerated, but other than it is not in the best judgement of our country to allow people who have committed felonies to make choices that impact America.