Felon's Rights Lobby Strikes Again
Once again, I feel like I am waking up in Bizarro world. Who the heck knew what a powerful lobby the felon's rights movement was? First, the DC Council outrageously proposes legislation that would prohibit employers from performing common sense background checks on prospective employees, and now Maryland wants to expand the voting rights of convicted felons.
These types of proposals are insulting enough, in and of themselves, but the language proponents of these measures use in defending their positions simply defy logic.
Bishop Adam J. Richardson Jr. said it is "unconscionable" that 140,000 former offenders... are disenfranchised because of the voting laws.
....
Del. Justin D. Ross (D-Prince George's) said that current laws are "punitive and discriminatory" and that it is time for a change.
Unconscionable? Disenfranchised? Discriminatory? Give me a break. What's "unconscionable" is that legislators in Maryland and DC think that felons rights is a priority. The 140,000 felons in Maryland aren't disenfranchised because of voting laws and they aren't discriminated against, they are denied the right to vote because they commited a felony. Don't want to lose your right to vote? Don't get convicted of a felony.
posted by ChrisBarronDC at 7:42 AM
3 Comments:
Obviously, this is an attempt to provide more votes for the Democratic party...on the other hand, felons are still citizens, so if a state wants to allow them to vote, I don't really see anything wrong with that.
On the felons and hiring protections, however, DC is way off base. There is no need to intrude in private businesses' hiring practices, and preventing a business to inquiring about someone's criminal background until an offer is made is a waste of everybody's time. I generally agree that once your sentence has been served your debt to society is paid, but by the same token, you aren't owed special treatment by private citizens.
I agree that states are certainly free to allow felons to vote, indeed some states already do. My annoyance with this legislation is that 1) there are way more pressing issues facing Maryland (and DC), 2) you are dead on that it is little more than a crass ploy to get more Democrat voters on the rolls, and 3) the language the proponents of this legislation use to describe it is really beyond the pale.
Agreed - it takes some effort to be an offical convicted felon, and I don't feel sorry for them in general. You sleep in the bed you make...this is not a civil rights issue by any stretch.
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