Here he is being sworn into office with his hand on a Koran.
Posted on 11/16/2007 6:52:43 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg
WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison said Friday he'll pursue legislation that would require states to let ex-felons vote in federal elections once they're out of jail or prison, which would nullify laws in states across the country, including Minnesota.
Ellison, a freshman Minnesota Democrat, had introduced legislation to let ex-felons vote when he was in the Minnesota Legislature. Now he's aiming for a bigger impact.
"Allowing felons to vote signals our value on redemption," he said in an interview. "We should believe in second chances. We should believe in redemption."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Nothing new, the same holds true here in Texas. Once a felon serves his time and finished with his punishment he can vote again.
Instant Democrat voting bloc!
Just what we need; a bunch of felon prison converts to TROP* voting in federal elections.
* The Religion Of Peace
The vote for felons...I’m sure Ellison propsed this thinking it’s
a “non-partisan” situation.
(/SARC!!!)
"Thoughts?"
Makes sense to me. Many of those in prison are converting/becoming Muslim. Many of those in prison were democRATS.
Makes total sense to me, just like the illegal aliens, and democRATs want them to vote too.
5.56mm
Released terrorists, murderers, rapists ,etc should have their say under islamic law. I wonder which party they will flock to?
Keith (Hakeem) Ellison’s next bill will seek free explosive vests along with unlimited det cord for all muzzies that voted for him in MN’s fifth district.
Worst combination ever....Muslim, lawyer, congresscritter.......
He’s probably in favor of giving all his brothers at Gitmo the vote, too!
Is he also willing to give ex-felons the right to bear arms again?
He is, yes.
I think voting and gun rights should be restored at some point after incarceration and parole.....conditionally maybe.
Gun rights always were till Congress cut off funding to the ATF for review in 1992 or so....a GOP spearhead as I recall.
Now....so many men have lost voting rights, I expect this to continue to be an issue.
If it were me, I’d take the guns first....more important than the vote.
AFTER the election it’s something to think about.
Is he also willing to give ex-felons the right to bear arms again?
........ And why not? I you finish your punishment why should you be denied the right to defend yourself. Not all ex felons are mean nasty violent people, sometimes they just made a bad decision early on in life. You would be surprised how easily it is to be convicted of a felony these days. How do you expect someone to turn their life around if for the rest of their life they will always be considered a second class citizen. One their debt is paid to society I think all rights should be restored.
I agree.
As of May 10, 2007 all 50 states allow felons to vote. Restrictions
apply in some states.
The two most restrictive are Kentucky, where voting rights can be
restored only when the Governor approves an application for an
executive pardon for reinstatement of voting rights from an
individual after completion of his/her sentence.
Mississippi, where An individual, after completion of their sentence,
must go to his or her state representative and convince them to
personally author a bill reenfranchising that individual. Both houses
of the legislature must then pass the bill, and the governor must
sign it. Each year about 10 to 12 people are re-enfranchised in
Mississippi.
25 states allow felons to vote after serving their sentences and
parole or supervised release, 13 states allow felons to vote as soon
as they leave prison, 2 states, (Maine and Vermont) allow
incarcerated felons to vote.
The other 8 states allow felons to vote with less severe restrictions
such as applying to county boards or waiting 2 to 5 years after
completion of sentence.
http://www.felonvotingprocon.org/pop/StateLaws.htm
Here he is being sworn into office with his hand on a Koran.
Ellison has already introduced bills that would ban requiring photo IDs to vote in federal elections, and would require states to have same-day voter registration for federal elections.
That is a great catch. I am willing to be convinced on the main premise of the article, but the last paragraph - absolutely, positively not.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but you want to take a fella who has used a deadly weapon to rob, and kill other humans, who has served some time, and have us now trust his judgment and opinions on decisions that effect us in a myriad of ways for the rest of our, and our families lives?
Did I get that right?
Hmmm. Now, I have a Quran, and I have read some of it, but I really don’t remember seeing anything like that in there. Lots’a stuff about killing, but no second chances for murderers.
Methinks you just want to loose the monsters of hell on our society, and Allah will reward you for it.
Methinks you are about one neuron short of a complete connection.
Thank you for that info and link. I had no idea.
All the problems in the country and this loser wastes time with this.
Further shame to be a Democrat today.
The decline of America continues unabated.
Every state in the nation has a process that allows felons to reclaim their voting privileges. Normally this occurs after they have done their jail time and lived a period of time as good citizens.
Even the federal Government has a Pardon Attorney whose sole job is to review the records of various felons and recommend to the President wither or not they should get their privileges back.
I have read some of my great grandfather’s notes when he served as the Pardon Attorney in the 1920’s and they make very interesting reading. Most of his positive recommendations were for people who broke various laws to take care of their families. Those who broke the law because they could didn’t fare too well.
Forgiveness must be earned to be worth anything. When given in mass or blindly we end up with people like John Kerry.
Please use the correct designation for Congressman Ellison.
Who gave the federal government the right to do that?
Aside from the fact that almost all the felons will vote Democrat, it’simply up to the 50 states.
There are lots of illegal aliens in US prisons...
The ACLU will be suing to include them in the right-to-vote-for-felons deal...
“he is being sworn into office with his hand on a Koran.”
Yes, his “unclean” left hand on the Koran...
LOL
The deal with punishing a criminal...was simply to hand out justice. Eighty years ago...only real criminals went to jail. Today...we have politicans who go to jail for bribes....accountants for tax fraud....18-year old boys for sex with their fourteen year old girlfriend...etc. So the idea of denying certain basic rights to a guy after he finshes his time in jail...doesn’t hold water like it did years ago. Added to this mess...is that the constitution never said that your rights would be melted away if you did something wrong. You still had all of the constitutional rights that you had before you went to jail.
So I think we are barking and looking up the wrong tree. If you can’t have representation as an American citizen...why bother acting like a citizen after you get out of jail or prison? We need to get over this mentality that we dragged around since the 1800s...and face reality...you’ve got dead Americans who apparently votes year after year, and discouraging news for some guy who got out of prison 20 years ago but still can’t vote. Does the dead guy have more rights than the ex-prison member? A sad comparison...but its America today.
Again, why should non-violent offenders who’ve served their time be denied their Constitutional right to bear arms?
You will have to ask Mr. Ellison why he IS NOT pushing for that restoration of a BASIC constitutional right.
Yep. Declared an unalienable right nul and void if the fed-gov said so. That's about when I started to realize that American and American Government are two very different things.
Your description of the typical ex-felon is spot on.
or not.
No, you would be struck dumb how easy it is.
Here is one that will get almost everybody in the room, ever applied for a loan at a bank? Odds are, you are a felon.
Do you own a house with a pool? Bu-bye evil terrorist.
Got stopped by a cop and given a ticket? If you did not pull completely off the road you can wind up a felon.
Own a business with networked computers? Pretty good chance you are already a felon.
Ever fired a semi-automatic rifle while wearing boots with a broken bootlace? Felon. Period.
So, before everyone starts getting all bent over “how dare they let felons vote” one might want to pause and realize juuuust how easy it is to get a felony record these days.
In many instances the only criteria is “luck of the draw.”
Mississippi used to reinstate gun rights too....statewise.
But the Feds catch you and you’ve had it. Don’t drive on the Natchez Trace with state gun rights restored.
I think there has actually already been a case on that.
Federal voting and gun rights can only come back via a pardon from sitting POTUS at this moment.
I believe 15% of adult males have lost their gun rights.
Federal penalties are severe.
Nope. They are not citizens.
If hillary is the next president, I fear that we won’t see a republican in the white house again. Convicted felons, 20 million illegals will have the right to vote by 2012. The republicans won’t be able to stop it, if hillary wins we’re going to be wiped out in congressional and senate races. We’ve got 22 seats to defend against 12 for the democrats. If she wins we’ll probably have 43 or 44 left, many will be rino’s like collins and snowe from my state. And instead of fillibustering nonsense, they’ll cave and support it. We are doomed if she wins.
In many instances they are unconstitutional as well.
Right now there are a few Border Patrol agents on a long vacation that can tell you all about being deprived of their rights due to an "unexpected" felony conviction.
very sad....and most of this gun crap actually came from the GOP and approved by the NRA.
at least on the penalty side.
Moose Limbs at work !
You are putting two unrelated groups together.
And the question has already been answered. There is no permanant ban on voting due to previous felony conviction anywhere in the U.S.
This guy Rep. Keith Ellison is trying to manipulate the election, not restore voting rights.
Folks just don't think things through. I remember when they did that thinking "uhhh, just a second..."
I thought there were federal laws against allowing convicted felons to vote in presidentail elections. If so the two are certainly linked because the democrat plan is to gain a political majority that will allow them to rule with an iorn hand. convicted felons and illegal immigrats are their future voting blocks.
If ellison’s plan becomes law, 4 million convicted felons will have the right to vote. Along with 20 million illegals, or more, gaining citizenship over the next 4 years, there’s 24 million more democrat votes.
The good Rep. Keith Ellison is in Minnesota where the restoration of voting is automatic. It goes like this..
"Inmates, parolees, and probationers barred."
"Felons vote upon completion of all supervised release."
That is already the law in Minnesota just as it is here in Texas and 18 other states. So Rep. Keith Ellison's flowery statements... "Allowing felons to vote signals our value on redemption," he said in an interview. "We should believe in second chances. We should believe in redemption." is a big fat load of crap. The felons already are getting their right to vote restored.
This occurs automatically when they are released and off all supervision. So he is certainly no "champion of justice" by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps his bill is attempting to let them vote prior to achieving full repayment of their debt.
He probably wants to get this done before the elections. Anytime much past that will change nothing as a significant percentage of those affected will already have their voting rights restored.
The illegal are a completely different issue. They should be jailed and immediately deported. No drivers license, no jobs, no “sanctuary cities” no free medical care, no “Earned Income Tax Credit” IRS checks, no food stamps, no welfare and absolutely NO VOTING.
It's been a long time since the ACLU has worked for the benefit of citizens. Their primary goals now, in no particular order, are:
Remove God from the USA.
Allow pedophiles to run rampant.(NAMBLA)
Destroy the rights of private religious organizations to have standards for employees.
Make sure our borders are never secure.
Make sure prisoners have access to phones, HD cable TV and sex-change operations.
And...
Stop required picture ID's at the voting booth. An obvious attempt to get illegals the right to vote. I'm sure they'll eventually find a way to get the vote for illegal alien felons. They'll do anything in their power to help destroy this country.
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