Written by Stone Brwon, Alyssa Chavis, Camille Dunsford, Austin Epps and Tyler Adams
A topic that has arisen within the community is something for intellectuals to debate. Numerous people support either side of this debatable topic: should prisoners earn the right to vote? If prisoners do the crime, they need to do the time. They should not have a public opinion on society because we cannot allow criminals to have rights. What if Jeffery Dahmer were given the right to vote? Would you want the fate of our country residing within the hands of a murderer?
If someone is not willing to follow the law, then they should not be able to have the right to vote for someone who will make the law. Once someone commits a crime and is sent to jail or prison, they deserve to lose most, if not all, of their rights and privileges. Giving prisoners the right to vote will cause chaos. If we give one prisoner the capability to vote, then we are going to have to give the murderers and thieves the same right. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't like the fact that convicts had a voice in the people's government.
When a criminal is put in prison, it is for two things: security and punishment. The security is for when a person is proven dangerous and the punishment if for taking their "privilege" away. You should not have the right to vote if you are a danger to society. Convicts that are tried and convicted of murder, robbery or assault should not have the right to choose who leads this nation.
On the contrary, others feel as if they should be allowed to vote because they are still part of society. Yes they broke the law, but in The Constitution it says that everyone has equal rights so if we exclude prisoners from voting, we are going against the constitution. Prisoners are put under the protection of the government and therefore should have full rights to say who protects them. Some may argue that it is enough to allow prisoners to regain their right to vote after release, but we can not expect them to be deprived of all rights and emerge from prison ready to use them responsibly. A prisoner constituency with rights to vote and related rights of free speech can engage in civic activism that will continue after release.
In conclusion, prisoners do have rights before they commit the crime, once they commit it, their rights are revoked. When they break the law, they do not deserve to have any say so in anything regarding the people. The people vote for the president because we reside within a democracy. Prisoners should not be treated like free American citizens. Once they commit a crime, their life is put into the Jury's hands. And the Jury is made up of American citizens. So therefore, prisoners are not claimed to be "citizens" once they commit the crime. Why would we want criminals voting for our president? This country is for the people, not the prisoners.
