I also dislike the prison system.
I think too many petty criminals come out of prison with much bigger idea's.
I think the idea behind prison is not just solely as a punishment. I think
rehabilitation is also a factor (or at least meant to be)
Thinking about the fact that a lot of these prisoner's will one day be
released, then i think an interest in politic's and community issues should
be encouraged.
Otherwise you make the 'them' and 'us' gap even wider. People who feel
a part of their community and actively play a part in it's decision process
are surely less likely to want to cause harm to that community.
Just my thought's.
You make some good points.
On the other hand, it could be difficult to set up a voting booth in prison without it becoming a security risk.
I think that people should get their voting rights back when they get out of prison, but I'm not sure they should have the same rights while they are in prison.
Why not hand prisoners paper and a writing utensil, then watch as they record their votes? Prisoners already have jobs, receive visitors, eat, write letters, etc. Practically speaking, a system could be set up that would allow prisoners to vote without decreasing security.
So is freedom but that is taken away from prisoners also. Being a prisoner means giving up certain rights as a citizen.
No; it means restricting certain rights to protect society as a whole. Prisoners give up their right to freedom of movement because it would be dangerous to society to let them move about (and it would ruin the basis of prison as a punishment, which also harms society); they give up their right to own guns because it would be dangerous to allow prisoners to own guns; etc. There should be a reason for why any right is ever restricted. Why should prisoners give up the right to vote?
Because they are being punished and being punished means giving up certain privileges of citizenship. I agree that there are way too many people in prison who should not be there and it does need reform but it is indeed punishment. As part of the punishment for having to be removed from society you should give up your right to fully participate. Until recently felons in many states lost their right to vote even after getting out of prison but this is changing but had been up held as constitutional in the US. I feel once their sentence is complete they should get their right to vote back but while they are in jail no.
Voting is a right, not a privilege. Everyone of legal age should have the right to vote, and any restriction of that right should be justified by a direct benefit provided to society. Prisoners aren't fully participating in society because they're in prison, not in the community. Prisoners are in prison because they have been judged to have committed a crime, and they have been given due process and the chance to defend themselves in court. It is necessary to seclude them because they are actively dangerous to society: they will continue to commit crimes if allowed to roam about in the community. Prison should also rehabilitate prisoners to enable them to function in society without committing crimes. Prison also serves as a deterrent, but this is secondary to the other two goals. Restricting voting rights does not add to the likelihood of achieving any of the three goals (except, perhaps, to provide a minimal deterrent value). Prisoners are still citizens, and they deserve the benefits of citizenship (assuming that they were citizens to begin with).
