Blog 2 post-essay 3

November 2 2016

What's Crime Got To Do With It?

Another reason for giving the prisoners the right to vote would be the, simple fact that the crimes they commit have nothing to do with an election. For instance, there are many people who are in prison who are wrongfully convicted. A quote from the article The Price of Freedom: What Happens to the Wrongfully Convicted? reads "Studies suggest that between 2.3% and 5% of those sitting in U.S. prisons are actually innocent" (Phillips 1) Every prisoner should receive the right to vote, especially if that person is sitting in prison and they are innocent. Letting the wrongfully convicted vote for a presidential candidate before they are released is a very reasonable compensation. Granted, all the lawyers, judges, and prosecutors "know" a person is imprisoned because at the time there was sufficient evidence. That person becomes wrongfully convicted when the lawyers and public defenders realize that they have a couple holes in their story. Therefore, the lawyers come to the conclusion that the person who was prosecuted and currently imprisoned did not commit the crime. Considering how long it takes to process the innocent prisoner out of jail, they should be given the right to vote while they are still in prison. Since there would be no way of knowing an innocent person just got sentenced to 10-20 years for a crime they did not commit, he/she must be notified immediately. One, that they have an appeal for their innocence and two, that they can vote. For instance, when their appeal date arrives, assuming the DNA was tested and they were innocent, right then and there the proper authorities or the lawyers must notify the inmate that he/she can vote for a candidate before they are released. From then, the inmate could choose whether or not they wanted to vote. Another point would be the fact that a crime a person commits could be for a valid reason. For instance a man goes into a convenience store and robs the cashier at gun point for the money in the register. Because of this, obviously, he gets charged and prosecuted. But, the man actually needed the money to feed his child and pay the light bill. So, if that was the situation then taking the right to vote away from him, would not only be unfair, but the two do no equate. Rob a store, sent to prison, voting rights taken away. There could be and most likely is a more probable disenfranchisement. Crime should not dictate an inmate's right to vote.

>Phillips, Kelly. "The Price of Freedom: What Happens to the Wrongfully Convicted?" Forbes, 1 May 2012: 15 pars. Accessed 2 Nov. 2016. www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2012/05/01/the-price-of-freedom-what-happens-to-the-wrongfully-convicted/#1245d8595b70