Not only do I think non-incarcerated felons should have the right to vote, I think currently incarcerated should as well. Hell, set up a voting location in the prison.
That's how it works in most civilised countries.
That's how it works in ~~most~~ civilised countries.
I added the qualifier mainly because of New Zealand. AFAIK the country has otherwise its shit together.
New Zealand also lets the team down by allowing medical advertising. IRC it's the only country other than the US with prescription medical advertising.
Even better, let's stop doing prisons
Certainly cutting back 9 out of 10 prisons is a good idea. I don't object to the idea that there is a certain amount of people who need to be removed for their own and the public's safety.
But is a prison really where someone like that should go/it should be called? I would argue those people should be in a mental asylum, not what we have as prisons today (though today's mental asylums aren't necessarily more humane)
Mental hospitals should be places where people with mental illnesses can go for care and treatment. They shouldn't do double-duty as prisons.
True, but the opposite is the case now: several times more people with mental illness resulting in or at least contributing to unwanted behavior are imprisoned than are receiving any kind of treatment.
As indicated by the fact that the most incarceration-happy country in the world continues to have a much higher rate of violence and enrichment crimes than most rich countries, the prison industrial complex doesn't work for anyone except for the people profiting financially and electorally from its abuses.
If you want to actually reduce crime and make a better society, poverty alleviation, improving mental health services, and restorative justice is the way to go.
The current model of increasingly draconian oppression only leads to MORE crime AND more false imprisonment.
Right. But there needs to be secure treatment facilities.
Something like Norway's system is ideal imo
I mean, if responding to my comment about removing some people for "their own safety," then sure, there are better places that prisons.
But really what I was saying is there are people who do and will continue to be violent toward others, and prisons probably are the right place for them.
But I'm in full agreement that the US incarcerates far far too many people that don't fit into that description.
The justice system should, not is but should, be in the business of making things right for people who have been wronged and rehabilitating people who have done wrong, as an extension of preventing wrong from recurring, which is itself part of making things right for those wronged.
There is some theoretical minority of people who can't be rehabilitated and don't belong in medical treatment. There are some people where putting them in a medical facility would itself be an injustice to the staff and other patients. The vast majority of people with mental illness are perfectly safe and more likely to be the victim of a crime. Mixing them with billy mcSlapChop the worst person imaginable just creates a lot of dead people with poorly managed bipolar disorder.
The vast majority of crimes can be handled by the judge finding you guilty and then just letting you go.
I'd settle for getting rid of for profit ones
Start with getting rid of private prisons, and then go from there
That is how it works in a democracy
It is legal in most states for non felons to vote from prison/jail, of course some states make it difficult.
Any government that can financially profit from its prisoners also has an incentive to imprison more of its population.
Well, the government isn't profiting from it. Its the people running the government who are invested in private prison companies are personally profiting from it. Along with their golf buddies running said companies.
Privately run prisons as a for profit business is a crime against humanity.
The government would have got a payday when they sold off the prisons in the first place.
In the US, slavery is legal for prisoners. The US has the largest prison population in the world. This is not a coincidence.
How come I can't tell the difference between this slavery, and normal work?
Oh. Work is the same. But as a prisoner you get even less money. Between 0,12dollars and 1,41.
https://factually.co/fact-checks/justice/inmate-prison-work-pay-united-states-6b540f
More fun facts, slavery is still legal in the USA (for prisoners) and the USA imprisons a higher proportion of its population than any other country. The ruling class just makes everything illegal and enjoys unlimited slave labor!
More non violent prisoners behind bars than any country to ever exist!
Us people: criminals shouldn't be allowed to vote!
Then proceed to vote for and elect a criminal.
Then they do it again. Just because.
An imprisoned felon has no voice, but a free felon can be president.
A lot of world leaders are criminals.
Indubitably.
Funny enough according to many states can't vote. But somehow can be voted for. But I've been informed by my eldest sibling that I have some sort of thing they call TDS and I don't give enough of a fuck to care about what stupidity that means.
I agree with the sentiment, but were prisoners able to vote, prisons would get gerrymandered to hell and back. That said, they should still be able to.
In Sweden, prisoners keep their home address and vote in their home district.
To be fair, Sweden's prison system is more progressive than the non-imprisoned experience in some countries.
Yeah that just means that gerrymandering is the problem.
One of the many ways in which those in power in the US systematically enslave and disenfranchise people of color to this day.
Currently it depends on the state/district.
https://legalclarity.org/in-what-states-can-felons-vote-state-by-state-laws/
Only the District of Columbia, Maine, and Vermont allow people with felony convictions to vote at all times, including while serving time in prison
Lee Carter is a former Democratic Socialist member of the Virginia House of Delegates (2018–2022) who actively championed prison abolition and criminal justice reform.
You got that backward, chief.
It's not a coincidence.
It's literally the point.
Switch to Scientific Socialism. Problem solved.
Also quit letting any 2bit idiot have a say on what the country's policies are unless they're qualified to be in that conversation.
Also quit letting any 2bit idiot have a say on what the country’s policies are unless they’re qualified to be in that conversation.
That is such a tempting setup...
red states use prisoners as part of the census, so they can maintain the gop house seats in thier states.
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