Why do we restrict the voting rights of felons?

[Hartsock]

I'm with you on weed but I do not support legalyzing the heavier drugs such as crack, heroin, meth...I think anyone involved with those drugs should be persecuted.

What good has prosecuting them done? Check out Portugals drug legalization statistics, it seems to be working well over there, or at least from what Ive read it has been. I doubt you would have more or less people doing hard drugs if they were legal, but we wouldnt be wasting billions prosecuting and jailing them either.

 

[Stoked]

What good has prosecuting them done? Check out Portugals drug legalization statistics, it seems to be working well over there, or at least from what Ive read it has been. I doubt you would have more or less people doing hard drugs if they were legal, but we wouldnt be wasting billions prosecuting and jailing them either.

Just noticed I said persecute and not prosecute lol. Part of that problem is that America has been unable to secure the boarder and reduce the flow of narcotics.

Is your answer really "we suck at stopping it so we should make it legal?" We suck at stopping murder and domestic violence as well.

 

[Hartsock]

Just noticed I said persecute and not prosecute lol. Part of that problem is that America has been unable to secure the boarder and reduce the flow of narcotics.

Is your answer really "we suck at stopping it so we should make it legal?" We suck at stopping murder and domestic violence as well.

Murder and domestic violence aren't quite the same as getting high in your bedroom, but getting drunk and getting high are pretty similar although get drunk is almost always way way worse than getting high and its legal. I just don't see the benefit of putting drug users in jail, it doesn't curb use, or rehabilitate them, it just wastes money and ruins their life if they ever do decide to get clean. Its a lose lose.

 

[Stoked]

Murder and domestic violence aren't quite the same as getting high in your bedroom, but getting drunk and getting high are pretty similar although get drunk is almost always way way worse than getting high and its legal. I just don't see the benefit of putting drug users in jail, it doesn't curb use, or rehabilitate them, it just wastes money and ruins their life if they ever do decide to get clean. Its a lose lose.

So are you advocating for a different form of punishment? Perhaps a certain amount of time in forced public service. Say time in the military, parks and recreation or on road construction crews.

Edit: Also you address drug users. What about sellers, makers and distributors?

 

[Hartsock]

So are you advocating for a different form of punishment? Perhaps a certain amount of time in forced public service. Say time in the military, parks and recreation or on road construction crews.

Edit: Also you address drug users. What about sellers, makers and distributors?

Maybe spend money on treatment and rehabilitation options instead of jail and then back on the streets with no job opportunities and no rehabilitation.

As for sellers, makers, and distributors ..... I don't know. I would lean to long long jail sentences for makers and large scale distributors.

 

[Stoked]

Maybe spend money on treatment and rehabilitation options instead of jail and then back on the streets with no job opportunities and no rehabilitation.

As for sellers, makers, and distributors ..... I don't know. I would lean to long long jail sentences for makers and large scale distributors.

If they did some sort of service that would give them a marketable skill and perhaps help them avoid slipping back into usage.

 

[Hartsock]

If they did some sort of service that would give them a marketable skill and perhaps help them avoid slipping back into usage.

That is an option, I dont know what skill or service that would be, but its an idea. I dont think forcing them into military service is a great idea.

 

[Stoked]

That is an option, I dont know what skill or service that would be, but its an idea. I dont think forcing them into military service is a great idea.

Well I do not think a one size fits all. Military service, parks and recreation, road construction, garbage/waste services are all options.

Perhaps military service for free loaders wouldn't be such a bad idea. I do not like the presidence it sets though.

 

[Gameface]

Well I do not think a one size fits all. Military service, parks and recreation, road construction, garbage/waste services are all options.

Perhaps military service for free loaders wouldn't be such a bad idea. I do not like the presidence it sets though.

I wouldn't put them in the regular military. I think the AVF is a very very good thing.

 

[babe]

I think the idea of voter qualification should be re-worked along the lines of a picture Voter Registration card like a driver's license. In Utah, you have to show up with a birth certificate, passport, proof of residency in multiplicate documents such as utility bills, property tax notice addressed to you, and commercial business documents.

But I consider it unconstitutional to deny persons convicted of any "crimes" the right to vote.

And leaving that voting right inviolate for actual citizens of our country would not paint the map blue. . . . it would change the way our government treats human beings. And the way the politicians phrase some of their rhetoric. I trust the politicians to make the moves necessary to compete for the votes. . . . .

Actually, I don't even like the whole "driver license" thing, but I'm sorta unwilling to face the traffic if we didn't do them, too.

 

[sirkickyass]

It appears this is an issue with some level of bipartisan support. Now all we need is a lobbyist.

 

[PearlWatson]

Are Democrats this desperate for votes?

This reminds me of an Ann quote:
Democrats are neurotically obsessed with restoring the right to vote to felons. But the ex-cons themselves rarely express any interest in regaining this particular right. What ex-cons want is the right to own a gun. "Felons," Lott (author of More Guns, Less Crime) says, "who frequently live in poor, high-crime neighborhoods, want to be able to defend themselves."