Should people in prison be allowed to vote?

by eddie Sun May 16, 2021 12:00 am

Should people serving time in prison, have the right to vote?

Here are a couple of points for both arguments, to take into consideration:

Yes because…

Prisoners remain human beings. We should respect their human rights and should infringe upon their liberty as little as possible, except for the protection of the public. Denying prisoners the right to vote does not protect the public and is therefore an unwarranted infringement upon the human rights of prisoners.

No because…

People who have been sent to prison are rightly condemned to “civic death”: they are shut away not only to protect society, but also to symbolise society’s disgust at their acts. Although prisoners are no longer executed in many jurisdictions, the idea of “civic death” is that they lose the rights of citizens without dying in a literal sense. Those who offend against the common good of society should have no right to contribute to the governance of society. They can only be readmitted to society, both physically and in terms of their rights, when they have made amends to society by serving their sentence.

Yes because…

The views and needs of prisoners are currently not represented. Issues such as prison overcrowding and abuse by warders are not treated seriously as political issues, since those most directly affected cannot vote and the public generally has little interest in prisoners’ well-being. Prisoners should also have the opportunity to influence the formation of policy on healthcare, education, the environment and all the other issues that affect the world into which almost all of them will some day be released

No because…

In practice, few prisoners earn enough to be liable for taxation. In any case, the right to vote does not follow from the obligation to pay tax. In many countries, people start earning money and paying tax before they are old enough to vote (particularly if they leave school as soon as they are allowed to do so). This implies that the right to vote is given to those who can be expected to use it responsibly. Those convicted of serious enough crimes to be imprisoned have shown that they have no respect for society. They therefore cannot be trusted to vote responsibly in the interests of society; many would probably simply vote for candidates promising lighter sentences for criminals.

Here, are other points you may wish to consider before you have your say: https://debatewise.org/2868-prisoners-right-to-vote/

What do you think?

by Ben Reilly Sun May 16, 2021 12:12 am

I think prisoners should be allowed to vote on the basis that they remain citizens of the nation incarcerating them. If you've stripped someone of the right to vote, you've rendered them a non-citizen, in my view.

I also think that we don't live in a world of people who break the law and people who don't -- I think most people break some laws, whether important or minor, fairly often. So that means that prisoners aren't different from the majority of people except in the fact that they got caught.

Also, it seems a bit harsh to strip the right to vote from someone for selling a bit of marijuana, shoplifting, or other minor crimes that didn't cause much damage, if any.

Prisoners should have the right to vote on issues that affect their lives, such as living conditions in prisons (even if the majority of the public doesn't care whether prisoners are suffering).

by HoratioTarr Sun May 16, 2021 12:20 am

I think it depends on the crime and the sentence. People who commit heinous crimes opt out of the human race, and by default should not be allowed to vote as a part of it.

by Ben Reilly Sun May 16, 2021 12:50 am

HoratioTarr wrote:I think it depends on the crime and the sentence. People who commit heinous crimes opt out of the human race, and by default should not be allowed to vote as a part of it.

But the question states that you either have to allow all prisoners the vote or take it away from all of them, regardless of what crime they committed. For every murderer or rapist in prison, I figure there must be 50, 100 or even more relatively minor offenders.

by Tommy Monk Sun May 16, 2021 2:10 am

No... They are in prison because they have been removed from society.

by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 3:32 am

Nope, but once you have served your time and probation is over, all of your rights are restored.

Including those to firearms.

I also don't believe in keeping them on a sex offender list for the rest of their lives.

by Vintage Sun May 16, 2021 10:39 pm

No they shouldn't vote while in prison, surely taking away your usual liberties is or should be part of the deterrent.

by Syl Sun May 16, 2021 11:25 pm

Maddog wrote:Nope, but once you have served your time and probation is over, all of your rights are restored.

Including those to firearms.

I also don't believe in keeping them on a sex offender list for the rest of their lives.

Surely it should depend on why they are on the sex offenders list in the first place.

A 16 year old lad having sex with his 14 year old girlfriend is very different to a child rapist.

In answer to the OP....I dont think prisoners should be allowed the vote.

by Maddog Sun May 16, 2021 11:42 pm

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:Nope, but once you have served your time and probation is over, all of your rights are restored.

Including those to firearms.

I also don't believe in keeping them on a sex offender list for the rest of their lives.

Surely it should depend on why they are on the sex offenders list in the first place.

A 16 year old lad having sex with his 14 year old girlfriend is very different to a child rapist.

In answer to the OP....I dont think prisoners should be allowed the vote.

16 year olds are put on that list all of the time for exactly what you described.

Incarceration is designed to take away freedoms from those Incarcerated. The idea of paying your debt should incide a receipt for "paid in full" when you are done.

by Syl Mon May 17, 2021 12:21 am

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

Surely it should depend on why they are on the sex offenders list in the first place.

A 16 year old lad having sex with his 14 year old girlfriend is very different to a child rapist.

In answer to the OP....I dont think prisoners should be allowed the vote.

16 year olds are put on that list all of the time for exactly what you described.

Incarceration is designed to take away freedoms from those Incarcerated. The idea of paying your debt should incide a receipt for "paid in full" when you are done.

Some sex offenders may be put on the sex offenders list but avoid serving time.

In my opinion it would depend on the crime commited as to how long they stayed on the sex offenders list. Some should stay on it for life.

by Maddog Mon May 17, 2021 12:56 am

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:

16 year olds are put on that list all of the time for exactly what you described.

Incarceration is designed to take away freedoms from those Incarcerated. The idea of paying your debt should incide a receipt for "paid in full" when you are done.

Some sex offenders may be put on the sex offenders list but avoid serving time.

In my opinion it would depend on the crime commited as to how long they stayed on the sex offenders list. Some should stay on it for life.

Ours are for life.

But I'm not opposed to part of your time being a lifetime placement on the list. You basically never repay your debt. But that would be for people who did something very serious and served time in prison. There are crimes that deserve a lifetime restriction of rights, whether in or out of prison. Basically a life time parole position.

But we have folks who slept with the wrong 16 year old girl, on the list for life.

by Syl Mon May 17, 2021 12:09 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

Some sex offenders may be put on the sex offenders list but avoid serving time.

In my opinion it would depend on the crime commited as to how long they stayed on the sex offenders list. Some should stay on it for life.

Ours are for life.

But I'm not opposed to part of your time being a lifetime placement on the list. You basically never repay your debt. But that would be for people who did something very serious and served time in prison. There are crimes that deserve a lifetime restriction of rights, whether in or out of prison. Basically a life time parole position.

But we have folks who slept with the wrong 16 year old girl, on the list for life.

I agree it's ridiculous to tag a minor sex offender for life.

There is a huge difference between an 18 year old sleeping with a mature 16 year old girl, and an adult sexually abusing a 10 year old child.

by Tommy Monk Mon May 17, 2021 3:25 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

Some sex offenders may be put on the sex offenders list but avoid serving time.

In my opinion it would depend on the crime commited as to how long they stayed on the sex offenders list. Some should stay on it for life.

Ours are for life.

But I'm not opposed to part of your time being a lifetime placement on the list. You basically never repay your debt. But that would be for people who did something very serious and served time in prison. There are crimes that deserve a lifetime restriction of rights, whether in or out of prison. Basically a life time parole position.

But we have folks who slept with the wrong 16 year old girl, on the list for life.

Here they are on the list because they are considered to be a risk and need to be prevented from getting certain jobs where they may be in positions of trust and because they still need to be monitored to a certain degree.

by Original Quill Mon May 17, 2021 3:54 pm

HoratioTarr wrote:I think it depends on the crime and the sentence. People who commit heinous crimes opt out of the human race, and by default should not be allowed to vote as a part of it.

What constitutes "heinous crimes"? For example, are espionage or sedition heinous crimes? Arguably, they are the crimes where the political entity as a whole is the victim. Shouldn't they be prohibited from participating in voting?

by HoratioTarr Fri May 21, 2021 6:33 pm

Original Quill wrote:
HoratioTarr wrote:I think it depends on the crime and the sentence. People who commit heinous crimes opt out of the human race, and by default should not be allowed to vote as a part of it.

What constitutes "heinous crimes"? For example, are espionage or sedition heinous crimes? Arguably, they are the crimes where the political entity as a whole is the victim. Shouldn't they be prohibited from participating in voting?

Crimes against humanity. Any and all of them.

by Original Quill Fri May 21, 2021 7:53 pm

HoratioTarr wrote:
Original Quill wrote:

What constitutes "heinous crimes"? For example, are espionage or sedition heinous crimes? Arguably, they are the crimes where the political entity as a whole is the victim. Shouldn't they be prohibited from participating in voting?

Crimes against humanity. Any and all of them.

So, the adjective heinous is unnecessary. It's all crimes and all criminals.

I can think of several politicians who fit in that category. Twisted Evil

by eddie Fri May 21, 2021 9:58 pm

Original Quill wrote:
HoratioTarr wrote:I think it depends on the crime and the sentence. People who commit heinous crimes opt out of the human race, and by default should not be allowed to vote as a part of it.

What constitutes "heinous crimes"? For example, are espionage or sedition heinous crimes? Arguably, they are the crimes where the political entity as a whole is the victim. Shouldn't they be prohibited from participating in voting?

That’s the question isn’t it? What constitutes heinous? One man’s “heinous” is another man’s “meh”.

Where do we draw the line?

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