Resolved: In a democratic society felons ought to retain the right to vote.

Cheers! I will argue that by default, felons should not have voting rights, except in some cases where they have proven themselves reformed. ------------------------DEFINITIONS-------------------------------- felony= (1) a felony as a crime which involves a potential punishment of one year or longer in prison.[1] (2) in general, a "serious crime" [2] felons= people who commit or have committed felony democratic society= a society based on majority rule; a society where supreme political power lies with the people [3] right = an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature [4] vote= express one's preference for a candidate or for a measure or resolution; [5] -----------------------MAIN ARGUMENT---------------------------- First, I will mention that voting is NOT an inalienable right. In a solitary state, a human does not possess any quality that entails the right to vote. Rights to life, liberty etc. might be inalienable and follow from human nature, but the right to vote is alienable and is contingent upon society. Remember Locke's Social Contract theory? Society grants the right to vote on the promise of good behavior, and can suspend it when people break that promise. Having established that society can curtail the right to vote, I will show society ought to curtail the felons' right to vote. There are 2 main arguments why felons don't deserve their right to vote: (a) Punishment: A serious crime deserves a serious punishment. Being stripped of voting rights is a fitting punishment because it emphasizes that voting, which is the basis of a democratic society, is a right that is contingent on keeping the Social Contract. Only law-abiding citizens who uphold the Contract have the right to vote; felons, who have expressed contempt of their fellow citizens by breaking the law are deprived of their right to vote. In combination with being incarcerated, it impresses upon the felons the magnitude of their crimes. (b) The integrity of voting: Ask yourself: would you want your policemen, your judges or your politicians to be elected by those who have committed atrocities such as rape? In many cases, these felons' ideal of society differs from the commoner's ideal, and we must accept this. Given their inappropriate ideals and motivations, felons should lack the right to vote. I also realize that some felonies are accidental and/or less severe than others. There are some felons that reform. For such felons, I propose that we set up a Pardons Commission to determine whether the felons are worthy of receiving the right to vote. All felons will have the right to apply to the Commission for a hearing. This Commission might meet every quarter year, and precedent for such a Commission already exists in some USA states. This will allow the one-time criminals to retrieve their right to vote. -------------REBUTTALS IN ADVANCE--------------- 1) Some argue that the felon will undergo double punishment: after serving his jail time and fulfilling his debt to society, the felon will be made to undergo a 2nd punishment because of not being able to vote. However, this argument commits the fallacy of begging the question [6]. It assumes that the jailtime adequately punishes the felon, and that the lack of voting rights is a 2nd punishment. However, the jailtime and the lack of voting rights can be viewed as 2 parts of a single punishment. Just like drunk driving can lead to both jailing you and depriving you of your driver's license. 2) Some argue that the policy of depriviation of felon voting rights originated in the Civil War - blah blah blah. Basically, they argue that because this policy originated to promote racism or whatever, it must be bad. But this is committing the genetic fallacy. [7] 3) Some argue that the policy is racist because there are many colored felons who get stripped of rights. But, this is really a red herring. If it is a fact that more men of color are felons or something; so be it! These charges of resulting racism are irrelevant as to whether felons should have voting rights. SOURCES [1] http://www4.law.cornell.edu... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org... [4] http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... [5] http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... [6] http://www.nizkor.org... [7] http://www.nizkor.org...