The Mistakes Of Ex-Felons

Many people believe that felons do not deserve the right to vote. For these people,

About 5.26 million people with a felony conviction are not allowed to vote in elections. Each state has its own laws on disenfranchisement. Nine states in America permanently restrict felons from voting while Vermont and Maine allow felons to vote while in prison. Proponents of felon re-enfranchisement believe felons who have paid their debt to society by completing their sentences should have all of their rights and privileges restored. They argue that efforts to block ex-felons from voting are unfair, undemocratic, and politically or racially motivated. Opponents of felon voting say the restrictions are consistent with other voting limitations such as age, residency, mental capacity, and other felon

While some reinstate a felon’s rights as soon as they complete their sentence, others force them

Felons should be allowed to vote because everyone else can. Women and blacks weren’t able to vote, but now they can. If everyone else can vote why can’t they. They are citizens too. We can’t take their freedom away. After they get out we let them drive, buy beer and drive, but we don’t let them vote. Now if someone can go and buy beer and drive they could hurt people, but if you do drugs then you can’t vote. Not all felons did terrible crimes, Some of them just messed up once and now they can’t vote for the rest of their lives.

Throughout the years, many citizens have fought for the right to vote. Immigrants that are in our country view this as being lucky just to have the opportunity to make a change. Felons have taken the privilege for granted. Many of the supporters of a felons right to vote believe it’s unfair to punish from taking their vote. But the real question is if you can trust the felon for making the right call.

Every individual deserves the right to vote despite color or gender even if they are a convicted felon. This country was founded off of freedom from declaring itself independent. Even though individuals have committed certain crimes they should at least have a way to earn their freedom back in some type of way. The first step in this process would be making it automatic in every state ,after the process of rehabilitation felons should have their rights reinstated . The reason for this statement is to clarify that anybody can make a mistake . But it should be a way that felons should one day be seen as everyone else including the right to get any job. There is no direct resolution to the problem but the nation should really be concerned with this issue.

In this essay, I will be in support of felons having their voting rights restored after serving their prison sentences and completing all terms and conditions of probation or parole successfully. My reasons for supporting the restoration of felons’ voting rights are because voting is a “right” under the Constitution of the United States. After a person serves their prison sentence; some ex-felons have the ability to be and remain rehabilitated and live productive lives. Also, the laws are changing making it easier to be charged as a felon. Most of the people that are against felons voting claim that they make bad judgments because they do not abide

I believe felons can change or become a better person. Examples, Ethea Farahkhan who is now 55 years old once was a felony, but now a change person with a six grandchildren and working with The NAACP to help restore former felons the right to vote. However, Farahkhan is still lacking the right to vote after being released a month in 1985 up to now, she has not been given the right to vote. Although, she is a self-esteem woman who is doing all she can (1). She still away from trouble and other illegal act but she has not been given the right to vote yet. Another person who is struggling with the same problem is Joseph Hayden an ex-felons who is now a changed person working as director of NLPCA to help people with drug abuse problem, but he too have is still denied the voting rights (1). As Conyers said diminishing the legitimacy of our democratic process, denying voting rights to ex-offenders is inconsistent with the goal of rehabilitation

But the reality is many past felons go through their life not knowing that they can actually vote upon completing their sentence. Once they are in prison, they hate the system and have lost their rights to be a part of society again. So they must be educated on when they can gain this right amongst other if it is possible. Although, those ex-felons who previously could not vote and now can, the journey to vote is long and difficult. Depending on the state and their laws some felons can gain their right after completing their sentence and parole or probation. However, some states make it harder for those who re-register for voting more complicated. They create barriers where ex-felons must go through that ultimately make it nearly impossible to vote again. There are a lot of things to take into account such as the date of the crime, the conviction and the nature of the crime. It adds more unnecessary time to grant them their right back. Even after all that, felons must fill out lengthy paperwork and the inconsistency the law is even if it is stated clearly. The lack of information plays an essential part in their understanding of whether they gain this fundamental right back. This must be changed in order to give past felons their best shot in voting in the future. In prison there should be classes where they can go and get the knowledge they need. After being released from prison as well, there should be a pamphlet or book that they can read to understand how to gain their voting rights or any other right back. They are still citizens of the United States and should not have to have that jeopardized or

Implementing restrictions on convicted felons certainly does present both positive and negative affects on the individual felon and on society as a whole. Public support of such restrictions essentially is based on the personal beliefs and priorities of individual citizens. While some people think that restricting convicted felons will deter crime, thereby making society better over all, that isn’t always the case. In fact, these restrictions may even increase recidivism rates in the U.S. due to the inability of felons to achieve a stable lifestyle following their release from prison. Additionally, like you mentioned, such restrictions may impose unfair punishments on individuals who committed relatively minor crimes that only affected themselves,

I believe that there are felons out there who will never better themselves nor would they care to. These felons don’t care for a place to live or a place to call home. However, there are many people who end up with a criminal record for a very small incident, maybe an incident that was not their fault. There are many felons who can post bail and maybe do one day in jail. If you can post bail in one day I’m sure your crime was not life threatening. Therefore, why can’t this felon find a place to live? The reason is because any apartment complex you apply for will do a background check and will deny you. They don’t care if you are doing better or if you’re a changed person they will throw you out just as

People who are felons have their rights and freedom taken away forever because they make a mistake in life. How is that fair? Think about this for a minute; if a person gets a trafficking charge or three DUI’s within five years, that person now has a felony record and is labeled a felon. As punishment the now felon are sentenced to prison for a time declared by a judge and on parole for some time. Though the time has been served a felon is still at large. One non-violent crime stays on your record forever? Some believe that just because a person committed a crime that all civil rights should be taken away. Why? The “felon” label, along with the negative social and legal implications that accompany it, is essentially blind to the severity of the underlying crime. The convicted felon definition, the individuals that comprise this particular class include all social economic, racial, ethic, and gender categorizations. Although the term felony commonly refers to serious crimes punishable by imprisonment for at least a year, or by death, it may include minor crimes (Saxonhouse, 2004). The convicted felons classification can be divided into two subcategories: Current felons- those who are currently incarcerated, on probation, or on parole; and ex-felons- those who have completed their sentences and are no longer under control of the criminal justice system. Both violent and non-violent felons are measured equivalents within the current and ex-felon groups (McGuire, 2014).

Someone people argue the point that once an individual has served time, their record should be expunged. Their record should also be expunged if they have gone a certain amount of time without reoffending. At first this seems like a fair deal. If a person has served their time, or any sentence that was assigned to them they should truly be a free man, this includes a clean record. However, I am a very skeptical person and need to mention the few individual who may serve their time and keep a clean record to get their previous crimes expunged so they could commit again. It may sound harsh, but if someone makes the conscious decision to commit a crime, they are forgoing the rights of an innocent citizen. Yes, I do believe in second chances, and believe some people are capable of change, however some individuals always have an alternative motive, and will not change. If there were a choice for records to be expunged cases would need to be looked at one by one, not as a whole. Every crime and offender is different. Like I mentioned, some individuals are deserving of a clean record and are capable of change. However, some people are only doing what they need to do, to obtain their alternative motives. It’s important to consider employers when considering eliminating someone’s record. Employees have the right to know the criminal history of an applicant, and in many cases run a back ground

Often past offenders are neglected and deemed as vulnerable needless risk, leaving a “negative effect on employers willingness to hire” (ALBRIGHT & DENQ, 1996) when being compared to law abiding citizens with no history of breaking the law. It’s assumed, previous offenders who no longer yearn the desire to participate in criminal behavior can be a great asset to troubled teens. Past offenders offer the unique personal experience of offering mentoring skills which reach beyond one’s educational knowledge and experience. Past offenders will be relied upon to develop customized plans of execution to teach mentees first hand how to avoid systematic hurdles when attempting to transition from being a delinquent to working towards obtaining goals and taking advantage of opportunities through effective planning and decision making. In juvenile justice, offenders may have alternative desires outside of traditional schooling. Often ex-offenders are interested in seeking careers such as carpenters, plumber, electricians, auto mechanics, or information technology. Opportunities which offer discretionary flexibility towards ex offenders, yet share the same opportunities as white collar employees.

Employment is crucial because it is the source of income and livelihoods for most people around the world, however, getting hired is never easy, especially for ex-offenders who always experience discrimination in hiring process due to criminal history. For many newly-released prisoners, getting a job is tremendously more challenging than other people, for example, difficulties in accessing necessities, such as employment opportunities, housing, and health services. A significant number of ex-offenders are young adults that need to settle in their lives and plan on starting a family. When they do not access employment chances, they may become hopeless, and as a result, the difficulties they encounter in job hunting could potentially catalyze an increase of crime rates in society. It would be critical for ex-offenders to get important jobs so that they may not think about returning to crime. This paper looks at the challenges that ex-offenders face in society and provides strategies and recommendations for improving their employment opportunities both for short-term and long-term purposes.