*frowns*

[conuly]

From an article on inmate voting in the Times...

"I just was horrified when I realized they could vote," said Mary Black Andrews, a state representative from York, Me., whose first husband was a Maine state trooper who was shot and killed in the line of duty. "I just don't think that they deserve that right if they've been convicted of a violent crime."

*blinks*

I'm sorry, please explain the logic. Somebody commits a violent crime and suddenly their ability to reason is horrifically impaired AND they have no stake in this country at all?

Moreover, rights aren't something you deserve or earn. They're something you get just by being there.

I'm not arguing about this, seriously. I'm sure people can come up with many more coherant arguments against inmate voting than how "horrified" you are. I'll just sit here and stew a while.

Comments

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Well, I agree there's a spectrum. And for small crimes and stuff, yeah, they definitely should, at the very least, be voting once they're out. I'm not sure I care one way or another if they're voting while they're in.

But for... well, murder, for instance, that person has taken away someone else's right to *live*, so I don't really think they in any way deserve equal rights.

And again, I do think the compassion would be better served elsewhere... such as in preventing these people from committing crimes in the first place, thus protecting their rights.