I am not a lawyer, but as I understand it, a felony - once upon a time - was a conviction worthy of death. I know this has changed over time, but that would explain why this forfeited the “privilege” of voting. I’m not sure at all where I stand on this now - putting all felons in the same basket does not really seem right to me. It is clear to me that some felons really have forfeited the right to vote, but by making too many laws a felony we have abused this definition.
I’d be interested in other thoughts on this subject.
My thought is you commit the crime, you do the time and live with the consequences.
Let the criminal think about that before they commit the crime.
“I am not a lawyer, but as I understand it, a felony - once upon a time - was a conviction worthy of death.”
Not necessarily, although you can’t get the death penalty for a Misdemeanor. As I understand the difference, a Felony carries with it a prison term not less than a year in most states.
Per my earlier post, you know that I share your awareness of the penalties, including the loss of voting privileges, associated with being convicted of a felony.
Having said that, I think that you are right. When I was a DC cop, the definition of felony was any crime where the minimum penalty exceeded $1,000 and 1 year in jail. And the law further allowed LEO’s like myself to shoot “fleeing felons”. There was a practical prohibition on this allowance: shooting a gay man fleeing the scene of a sodomy in 1973 may have been legal in the strictest sense, but there would have been severe, career ending consequences.
So let’s go over the schedule of felonies and see if there are practical lines over which we can restore voting rights.
Felons who are still in prison should absolutely forfeit the right to vote. Non-violent felons who are not re-arrested for ten years after their sentence and parole is over can petition for the return of the right to vote.
I have long held the belief that a sentence, however heavy or light, should wipe away guilt. Entirely.
As in, you sentence someone to fifty years, and they serve fifty years, the day they get out, that’s it. No continuous punishment. Let Jean Valjean’s “yellow passport” join the other shameful memories of history.
Same for a 90-day jail sentence. Serve it, get out, you’re clean.