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Should felons be allowed to vote? Should felons be allowed to vote?
Felons should be allowed to vote once they have served their sentence Felons should be allowed to vote once they have served their sentence
Felons should never be allowed to vote Felons should never be allowed to vote
Felons should be able to vote even while in prison Felons should be able to vote even while in prison
Some felons should retain their voting rights Some felons should retain their voting rights
We should leave this decision up to each state We should leave this decision up to each state
Felons have paid their debt to society Felons have paid their debt to society
No taxation without representation No taxation without representation
Voting is a privilege Voting is a privilege
Felons should not have a say in society Felons should not have a say in society
Felons have not proven that they should be allowed to vote Felons have not proven that they should be allowed to vote
The criminal justice system targets minorities The criminal justice system targets minorities
Felons are still citizens Felons are still citizens
Voting is a right Voting is a right
Felons who have not committed egregious crimes should be able to vote Felons who have not committed egregious crimes should be able to vote
States should make decisions about felony disenfranchisement independently States should make decisions about felony disenfranchisement independently
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Should felons be allowed to vote?
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Felons should be allowed to vote once they have served their sentence

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Felons have paid their debt to society

By serving their sentence, felons have repaid their debt to society. Disenfranchisement means they are continually punished.
Joe Biden Elizabeth Warren
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The Argument

Imprisonment is a punishment for crime. Once a felon leaves prison, they have completed their punishment and repaid their debt to society. After a felon leaves prison, their punishment is over. Because of this, it is unfair for the state to punish them further by restricting their voting rights.

Counter arguments

The situation is not so straightforward that we can say that once a felon leaves prison, they are finished with their punishment. The State has numerous mechanisms to mediate felons' returns into wider society, such as probation. All of their rights and freedoms are not automatically reafforded to them, and voting should be no different.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] The state dictated a punishment for a crime felons committed, and they completed this punishment. [P2] They should not continue to be punished for this.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Just because they have served a sentence does not mean felons have proved they deserve to vote.

References

This page was last edited on Friday, 24 Jul 2020 at 19:14 UTC

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