Application
The article explores the right of convicts to vote in the United States. The author observes that it is up to states to determine whether people convicted of felons can vote (Fortin, 2018). Similarly, state governments have the exclusive jurisdiction of determining whether the convicts right to vote can be reinstated either during incarceration or after they have been released. The article presents several issues concerned with the civil liberties of Americans. Firstly, it invokes the concept of suffrage and questions whether it is democratically correct to deny people the right to vote. Secondly, it introduces the concept of equality before the law as one person convicted of a felon in one state can while another convicted of the same offense is denied that right. Finally, it questions the democratic concept of representation as denying convicts the right to choose their representations is equal to stripping them off their citizenship. Drawing from Palmer (2015), these civil liberties should either be denied to all convicts in a similar way or accorded to them ensure that concepts of equality before the law are upheld.
Analysis
The current is both influential and informative. On the one hand, it seeks to inform leaders of the discrepancy that exists between state laws with regard to the suffrage rights of voters. For example, it demonstrates that a person convicted of first-degree murder in the state of Vermont retains his/her right to vote. On the contrary, a person convicted of perjury in Mississippi loses his/her right to vote permanently. From a personal perspective, the author of this article does the right for informing citizens of this issue as it creates immense inequality between convicts. It would be better if the federal government took over this issue and harmonized the laws to ensure convicts across the country are treated in the same manner when it comes to voting (Behan, 2017). Alternatively, it should direct states to harmonize the laws and determine which crimes should allow the states to deny people the right to vote.
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References
Behan, C. (2017). Citizen convicts - prisoners, politics and the vote . Manchester University Press.
Fortin, J. (2018, April 21). Can Felons Vote? It Depends on the State. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/us/felony-voting-rights-law.html
Palmer, J. W. (2015). Constitutional rights of prisoners . Place of publication not identified: Taylor & Francis.
