Voting Rights in Prisons Pt. 3

Published on 10 September 2024 at 09:00

One of the key principles of CST is the human dignity of every person. As a Catholic, I believe every person is born with this human dignity and no action can forfeit this dignity. My belief influences the way I see a government’s treatment of rights. Though not completely similar to the CST tenet, governments also guarantee their citizens rights. 

Not every right, however, is as serious as something like the right to life. Many governments believe citizens can forfeit their rights through poor behavior. This idea is what the justice system is built on. Much of one’s opinions about the justice system stem from their beliefs on rights and which ones they believe are inalienable and which can be given up. 

I think it’s hard to apply the principles of CST to political rights. I therefore believe the debate for whether felons deserve disenfranchisement while they are incarcerated is debatable.

The effects of de facto disenfranchisement for prisoners, however, also apply to felons upon their release. For this reason, I oppose extra bars to retrieve one’s right to vote after prison. After doing some research, I learned most states have moved past any further conditions for reinstating the right to vote upon release. I was surprised to see that every state now allows felons to vote after release with the exception of severe crimes in some states. (See the chart below) (Source: NCSL)

Like I mentioned in previous posts, this issue is far less impactful than de facto disenfranchisement in prisons, but I still thought it deserved its own post and consideration from readers on how important they think the guaranteed right to vote for all citizens is for a democracy to function. Even then, I encourage people to consider whether this is a human rights issue or a political one. See you next week. 

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bahn janco
3 months ago

you should go to prison for letting ped banco get close