“If someone’s a habitual criminal then they should be locked up for good.” Couldn’t agree more, but our legal system is so piss poor that they aren’t, even murderers aren’t. It is a rotating door. As far as the individual you represent as having done his time and is being a good citizen, how long after he is paroled does he get the vote back—upon release, three years, ten, twenty or? And, who then decides which ones those individuals are, because as I have said above, it is a revolving door with most returning for one reason or another. I guess the bottom line is, we have a fundamental difference. I believe the right to vote is precious and one of the things that gives value to the way our country runs. It has already been degraded by cheating and people not knowing or taking the responsibility to know the issues or do what they need to do to vote that allowing felons to vote degrades it further and is not something I support.
If the legal system is piss poor (and I agree it is) then we should be fixing that. If someone re-offends, then by all means send them back to prison and suspend their voting rights again until they get it right.
I think that voting should be tied more to one's current standing than to someone's life history. If someone's clean and in good standing (not serving a sentence for something, current on their taxes and child support, etc.) then they should have a say in their government.
I would be more inclined to strip voting rights from people who are not sharing the burden... such as perpetual welfare recipients.