What Else Do You Want to do With Them?
Dan Froomkin reports on a bill that will allow released felons to vote again:
Personally, I enjoy the idea of reintegrating ex-cons into society by completely shunning them from it. I always figured the idea was to keep the cost of jailing people down by keeping the same restrictions on them while they're out.
Economically speaking, the real problem is always recidivism. In the end, ex-convicts get forced back into the same underground / black market that they were arrested for participating in anyway.
I love the idea of it all, anyway. In the end, no one wants to come to terms with admitting or calling out that we're engineering second class citizens. I'm sure the idea is something akin to, we'd love to keep you failed, but frankly we can't afford it. But don't worry you won't be able to do much outside, and we're sure you'll be back soon as your life is now ruined.
Von Spakovsky ... both mocked and questioned the motivations of the bill's sponsors:
They're changing the law just because they think it will help them win votes? Inconceivable!Why does this bill not also amend federal law to allow them to once again own a handgun? Are we to believe that they can be trusted to vote but not to own a handgun? Are we to believe that the sponsors of this legislation think that a convicted child molester can be trusted to vote but cannot be trusted to be a teacher in a public school? ... Or is the true motivation here based more on the fact that their vote is important to winning close elections?
Personally, I enjoy the idea of reintegrating ex-cons into society by completely shunning them from it. I always figured the idea was to keep the cost of jailing people down by keeping the same restrictions on them while they're out.
Economically speaking, the real problem is always recidivism. In the end, ex-convicts get forced back into the same underground / black market that they were arrested for participating in anyway.
I love the idea of it all, anyway. In the end, no one wants to come to terms with admitting or calling out that we're engineering second class citizens. I'm sure the idea is something akin to, we'd love to keep you failed, but frankly we can't afford it. But don't worry you won't be able to do much outside, and we're sure you'll be back soon as your life is now ruined.
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