Should U.S.A. Prisoners have Rights?

[Deacon Frost]

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Prisoners'+Rights

I'm on a political kick, atm, and was doing some research on the matter of inmates voting. I was appalled after reading several amendments to find that prisoners infact do not have the right to vote, as well as many other restrictions on rights.

The main one that concerns me, however, is the right to vote. The restriction on prisoners should only be ones to protect the state, to protect the prisoners, and to protect the prison employees. The removal of the right to vote has absolutely nothing to do with protecting them, and defines a right to vote as a taxpayer. According to the Constitution:

Article XV

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XXIV

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XXVI

1: The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age. affects 15

Source: http://constitutionus.com/

That tells me that if one person has the right to vote, then everyone who is a citizen should have a right to vote? But doesn't the 24th amendment state that it should not be based on taxes?

However, I also stumbled upon this poorly designed page in my travels: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy/A_Right_to_Vote.html


So to stay a little less on topic, but a little bit more on where I was planning on going with this...

Do you believe prisoners have the right to vote based on the constitution, or do you believe the restrictions made by state and prison policies are correct in their voting prohibition?

 

[Sanctuary]

I'm not too learned about citizenship and taxes, but doesn't being a US citizen require the payment of taxes? If I recall correctly, inmates make some absurdly low amount of money a month. I believe it's $.10/hour, and they work 8 hours a day. Again, I believe they work 20 days of the month, so they make approximately $16/month. $18 is the minimum amount needed to be earned in order to pay income tax.

So, if they don't pay any taxes, wouldn't it be fair to consider them like... partially a citizen? Couldn't their not paying taxes void out their ability to vote? I'm somewhat rambling about my thoughts... hopefully I kind of made sense.

 

[Jimmy]

The electoral college system did not, and does not, guarantee an individual's right to vote; rather, it allows for electors to be appointed at the discretion of each state. The few federal regulations that do exist clearly don't grant such a privilege to prisoners (most states, I believe, have legislation in place that disallows convicted felons from voting).

As for poll taxes, they were a measure by southern states to prevent African Americans from voting (i.e., they were an attempt to circumvent the 15th amendment). Prisoners are prevented from voting because they are prisoners, not because they don't pay taxes.

I'm not too learned about citizenship and taxes, but doesn't being a US citizen require the payment of taxes? If I recall correctly, inmates make some absurdly low amount of money a month. I believe it's $.10/hour, and they work 8 hours a day. Again, I believe they work 20 days of the month, so they make approximately $16/month. $18 is the minimum amount needed to be earned in order to pay income tax.

So, if they don't pay any taxes, wouldn't it be fair to consider them like... partially a citizen? Couldn't their not paying taxes void out their ability to vote? I'm somewhat rambling about my thoughts... hopefully I kind of made sense.

Plenty of people in the United States don't pay any taxes and are perfectly capable of voting. Additionally, one's payment of taxes has no bearing on their citizenship.

 

Personally I despise criminals. If they have stolen a packet of fruit pastels, then fair enough let then off a little. But if they've murdered or raped or bad crimes like that, the they should have no rights at all. They should be stuck in a tiny cell just about able to fit them in and they should rot.

But after saying that, I'd feel extremely bad if someone was falsely accused if murder etc and had to go through something like that.

 

[Deacon Frost]

I'm not too learned about citizenship and taxes, but doesn't being a US citizen require the payment of taxes? If I recall correctly, inmates make some absurdly low amount of money a month. I believe it's $.10/hour, and they work 8 hours a day. Again, I believe they work 20 days of the month, so they make approximately $16/month. $18 is the minimum amount needed to be earned in order to pay income tax.

So, if they don't pay any taxes, wouldn't it be fair to consider them like... partially a citizen? Couldn't their not paying taxes void out their ability to vote? I'm somewhat rambling about my thoughts... hopefully I kind of made sense.

Taxes has no effect on citizenship, and is unconstitutional. Not only that, but requiring a person to pay taxes in order to vote is basically corrupting the vote count as you are not hearing all citizens take on an opinion. That's not very democratic.

The electoral college system did not, and does not, guarantee an individual's right to vote; rather, it allows for electors to be appointed at the discretion of each state. The few federal regulations that do exist clearly don't grant such a privilege to prisoners (most states, I believe, have legislation in place that disallows convicted felons from voting).

As for poll taxes, they were a measure by southern states to prevent African Americans from voting (i.e., they were an attempt to circumvent the 15th amendment). Prisoners are prevented from voting because they are prisoners, not because they don't pay taxes.



Plenty of people in the United States don't pay any taxes and are perfectly capable of voting. Additionally, one's payment of taxes has no bearing on their citizenship.

A lot of the research I've done shows that they're prevented from voting BECAUSE they don't pay taxes. Also, the amendment states other taxes as well... meaning any taxes.

I'm not questioning the rationality of the voting laws here, as we all know it's a corrupt system that's exploited too allow the most politically favored candidate the chance to win... but what I'm concerned about is a state's position that a prisoner is not guaranteed the ability to vote. That's a LOT of numbers that are going unheard, and who does it affect most if not them? While I may see their crimes as despicable, in some cases, I'm not so foolish as to take away a simple privilege from a man who has broken the law. (Maybe his vote will change the law, who knows?)

Should not every person be given the chance to cast a poll? Regardless of whether or not they are incarcerated? A majority of countries allow prisoners the ability to vote... they realize that not doing so is a breach on their rights (as most countries count voting as a right). USA seems to be behind on this point of belief.

Personally I despise criminals. If they have stolen a packet of fruit pastels, then fair enough let then off a little. But if they've murdered or raped or bad crimes like that, the they should have no rights at all. They should be stuck in a tiny cell just about able to fit them in and they should rot.

But after saying that, I'd feel extremely bad if someone was falsely accused if murder etc and had to go through something like that.

While I would not condone a man's actions to break a law, I would find it to be cruel and unusual punishment to silence his beliefs in any circumstance except cases which he has violated another individuals rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. If there is a vote to be cast, everyone should have a say, except those who impose on inherent human rights.