Felon Disenfranchisement

Resolved: in a democratic society felons ought to retain the right to vote. Obs1. Since the United States is the only one of 166 democratic nations in the world that bar felons from voting the resolution is implying the US is the above democratic society. *Democratic Society (democracy): government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power of the land is vested in the people and directly exercised by them *Disenfranchisement: the revocation of the right to vote or suffrage to any individual or group of people, or rendering a vote less effective, or ineffective *Felon: a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is sufficiently serious to be punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison, as distinguished from a misdemeanor V: Human Rights- Human rights refers to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which are often thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education. VC: Equality- rights, treatment, quantity, or value equal to all others in a specific group- full equality under the law ::Contention1::Society uses disenfranchisement to protect the contestation of existing values. Throughout history the United States has used disenfranchisement as a means to oppress different demographic groups. Women, African Americans, and the poor have had their political rights denied in order to maintain the status quo. The poor were first to gain the right to vote under President Jackson. Shortly thereafter a broad range of economic and political reforms were instituted. The same has happened after with women and African American won enfranchisement. When these groups won their right to vote, there were major political, social, and economic shifts throughout the country. Because women were allowed to vote prohibition was passed. Society is scarred of the changes allowing felons to vote will bring to the nation. The same was true when African Americans gained the right to vote. Allowing felons to vote will not result in a massive wave of unjust laws, nor will the government be filled with felon politicians. The Democratic nature of our country will not let a minority of felons completely change the countries moral foundation. The democratic nature of our country also forbids the silencing of minority groups. In order to be a true democratic society we need to let all minorities participate in elections. If we don't we are taking away the basic human rights everyone deserves. ::Contention2:: Disenfranchised groups are seen as sub-citizens, and enfranchisement helps gain status as equals. African Americans and Women were long seen as sub-human in United States history. They were treated as property not as people. This is true with felons also. Notice in the resolution it does not refer to felons as people that made some mistakes, the resolution refers to them as felons. Felons are not treated as people. They have a hard time finding jobs. They don't make as much money. Felons have long term restrictions on their basic rights even after they have served their time and have payed their debt to society. Their right to privacy is often violated depending on state laws. They lose the rights to welfare, they lose housing rights, and they can lose parental rights. This is dehumanizing and further isolates felons from society. By giving felons the right to vote we give them a way to reintegrate into society. We give them a way to win their rights back. ::Contention3:: Limiting the right to vote introduces racial as well as economic and political inequalities. Racial/political--"Of the approximately 100,000 parolees and probationers subject to the New Jersey's felon-disfranchisement law, more than 60 percent are African American or Latino, which the ACLU and Rutgers say is in large measure a consequence of racial profiling in the criminal justice system. As a result, the political power of the African American and Latino communities in New Jersey is diluted because they are disproportionately excluded from voting. Disenfranchisement laws have been used to keep minorities out of power before. Literacy tests and poll taxes have been used to remove power disenfranchise minorities before and felon disfranchisement is another tool to keep the minorities out of power. Economic—according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics most felons belong to the bottom quintile annual income. Disenfranchisement takes away felons right to vote on issues regarding felons. Felons lose their right to welfare. Most felons depend on this welfare to survive. Taking away the welfare further encourages felons to commit illegal acts to make ends meet. Giving felons the right to vote gives them a means to secure other rights and help they need to stay out of prison. ::Conclusion:: Because felon disenfranchisement creates inequality by restricting voting and making felons inferior to regular citizens, human rights are minimized. In order for human rights to be satisfied equality must be established. Felons must have the same opportunity to vote and have an equal chance to gain human rights.