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Having experienced working on cognitive programmes with prisoners (most of the lifers) I find this ridiclous. Most of the inmates have
such a lack of basic education their vote would be based on "because he told me to do it" or "i saw him more on TV". - Don't get me wrong some prisoners do make every possible effort to educate themselves and prepare themsleves for release, but by giving them the right to vote isn't this just working against the whole point of prisons (taking a way a persons rights?) Surely this would also give prisoners more ammunition / value and say? For example 'if i write to my local MP and ask him to increase the number of visits per week all my fellow wing mates will vote for you?' i don't know...this countyr seems to have gone mad, why can't new laws be introduced that would actually benefit our society??
such a lack of basic education their vote would be based on "because he told me to do it" or "i saw him more on TV". - Don't get me wrong some prisoners do make every possible effort to educate themselves and prepare themsleves for release, but by giving them the right to vote isn't this just working against the whole point of prisons (taking a way a persons rights?) Surely this would also give prisoners more ammunition / value and say? For example 'if i write to my local MP and ask him to increase the number of visits per week all my fellow wing mates will vote for you?' i don't know...this countyr seems to have gone mad, why can't new laws be introduced that would actually benefit our society??
Having experienced working on cognitive programmes with prisoners (most of the lifers) I find this ridiclous. Most of the inmates have
such a lack of basic education their vote would be based on "because he told me to do it" or "i saw him more on TV". - Don't get me wrong some prisoners do make every possible effort to educate themselves and prepare themsleves for release, but by giving them the right to vote isn't this just working against the whole point of prisons (taking a way a persons rights?) Surely this would also give prisoners more ammunition / value and say? For example 'if i write to my local MP and ask him to increase the number of visits per week all my fellow wing mates will vote for you?' i don't know...this countyr seems to have gone mad, why can't new laws be introduced that would actually benefit our society??
such a lack of basic education their vote would be based on "because he told me to do it" or "i saw him more on TV". - Don't get me wrong some prisoners do make every possible effort to educate themselves and prepare themsleves for release, but by giving them the right to vote isn't this just working against the whole point of prisons (taking a way a persons rights?) Surely this would also give prisoners more ammunition / value and say? For example 'if i write to my local MP and ask him to increase the number of visits per week all my fellow wing mates will vote for you?' i don't know...this countyr seems to have gone mad, why can't new laws be introduced that would actually benefit our society??
Prisoners do not deserve the vote, should not be given a vote, and in no way are in the position to have that right whatsoever.
When you go to Prison, you are removed from society, and removed of the right to your freedom as a punishment for your crime and to remove the risk of you harming anyone. If you haven't got the right to see the outside world, there is no point in taking part in elections as so many of the issues will not concern you, and not being part of society it is irrelevant, and also part of the parcel of the punishment of imprisonment.
Yes, they are citizens. But they have been removed from society, and will have less a concept of the outside of the current period of time. Plus if you are in prison you are there for a reason: You are not wanted as part of society and are punished by being removed from it, hence you should be removed from such a right as to choose such a society's representatives, leaders et cetera.
And we have the issue that, I assume at least, that much of the prison population are not the sort of people who would vote or otherwise take part in politics anyway, so would not be making decisions based on a good conscience (Even though you could say that about the many ignorant and/or stupid people within society), and would therefore not make a good contribution to the general election, voting for an MP in a constituency they no longer live in, but are imprisoned away from. Doubly so for referenda, which require a fair deal of thought, hence their rarity in this country where our leaders, at least in theory, will know the best course of action.
Give prisoners the vote? More nonsense from the overly politically correct but otherwise incorrect unelected Eurocrats in Brussels.
When you go to Prison, you are removed from society, and removed of the right to your freedom as a punishment for your crime and to remove the risk of you harming anyone. If you haven't got the right to see the outside world, there is no point in taking part in elections as so many of the issues will not concern you, and not being part of society it is irrelevant, and also part of the parcel of the punishment of imprisonment.
Yes, they are citizens. But they have been removed from society, and will have less a concept of the outside of the current period of time. Plus if you are in prison you are there for a reason: You are not wanted as part of society and are punished by being removed from it, hence you should be removed from such a right as to choose such a society's representatives, leaders et cetera.
And we have the issue that, I assume at least, that much of the prison population are not the sort of people who would vote or otherwise take part in politics anyway, so would not be making decisions based on a good conscience (Even though you could say that about the many ignorant and/or stupid people within society), and would therefore not make a good contribution to the general election, voting for an MP in a constituency they no longer live in, but are imprisoned away from. Doubly so for referenda, which require a fair deal of thought, hence their rarity in this country where our leaders, at least in theory, will know the best course of action.
Give prisoners the vote? More nonsense from the overly politically correct but otherwise incorrect unelected Eurocrats in Brussels.
I can see why many would say prisoners should not have the right to vote, but doesn't the argument essentially boil down to the old question of the point of prisons?
While some argue prisons are there to punish, others argue that they need to 'rehabilitate' offenders into 'decent' members of society... It's really a question of what you believe prisons should be doing...
If you are of the belief that they're there to punish, then you see prisons as vehicles for stripping rights away from people, therefore prisoners shouldn't have the right to vote. If you think prisons need to rehabilitate people, then prisoners should have the right to vote, as this is another thing that 'society at large' participates in, and you need to encourage them to take part in such things in order for them to integrate back into society...
Personally I am somewhere in between those two... Ideally we should be trying to 'rehabilitate' all prisoners, but clearly there are limited funds and whatnot, so maybe it's best to focus efforts on those it has the greatest chance of working on...
Overall though I think it would be somewhat worrying to revoke the right to vote from prisoners... Just because of the political connotations it would have.
Essentially you have people locked up by a government, if you then take away their right to participate in the process by which that government is elected, you essentially take away their right to 'protest' against the law that may have incarcerated them...
Obviously this isn't applicable to all crimes (mugging old ladies, murder, etc.). But if someone was locked up for political dissent (maybe not likely here, but I hope you get where I'm going) then they should have the right to protest against the law which had them incarcerated by voting for a party that opposes it...
To give an example... Should these pensioners locked up for not paying their Council Tax not be able to vote (if elections occur while they're in jail)? Surely they should be able to vote in order that they can voice their opinion, vote for a party that supports lower Council Taxes?
Or when all of your worst fears come true and brussels takes over, and someone gets imprisoned for making 'un-PC' remarks... Should they not have the right to vote for a party that wants to get out of the EU?
Yeah, I can people's point, and perhaps it is justified when it comes to really serious offenders... It may seem just a tad unjust that someone who committed a serious offence such as murder gets to vote... But it still doesn't seem right to take away someone's ability to change the very system that has them incarcerated...
Wow, that was a loooooong post. Feel free to have a nap at the mid-way point.
While some argue prisons are there to punish, others argue that they need to 'rehabilitate' offenders into 'decent' members of society... It's really a question of what you believe prisons should be doing...
If you are of the belief that they're there to punish, then you see prisons as vehicles for stripping rights away from people, therefore prisoners shouldn't have the right to vote. If you think prisons need to rehabilitate people, then prisoners should have the right to vote, as this is another thing that 'society at large' participates in, and you need to encourage them to take part in such things in order for them to integrate back into society...
Personally I am somewhere in between those two... Ideally we should be trying to 'rehabilitate' all prisoners, but clearly there are limited funds and whatnot, so maybe it's best to focus efforts on those it has the greatest chance of working on...
Overall though I think it would be somewhat worrying to revoke the right to vote from prisoners... Just because of the political connotations it would have.
Essentially you have people locked up by a government, if you then take away their right to participate in the process by which that government is elected, you essentially take away their right to 'protest' against the law that may have incarcerated them...
Obviously this isn't applicable to all crimes (mugging old ladies, murder, etc.). But if someone was locked up for political dissent (maybe not likely here, but I hope you get where I'm going) then they should have the right to protest against the law which had them incarcerated by voting for a party that opposes it...
To give an example... Should these pensioners locked up for not paying their Council Tax not be able to vote (if elections occur while they're in jail)? Surely they should be able to vote in order that they can voice their opinion, vote for a party that supports lower Council Taxes?
Or when all of your worst fears come true and brussels takes over, and someone gets imprisoned for making 'un-PC' remarks... Should they not have the right to vote for a party that wants to get out of the EU?
Yeah, I can people's point, and perhaps it is justified when it comes to really serious offenders... It may seem just a tad unjust that someone who committed a serious offence such as murder gets to vote... But it still doesn't seem right to take away someone's ability to change the very system that has them incarcerated...
Wow, that was a loooooong post. Feel free to have a nap at the mid-way point.
Prisoners awaiting trial should be allowed to vote.
A) It's not just prisoners who are ignorant of politics.
B) I think they should; yes they've done stuff wrong, but they should still have a say in how things are run. I don't really see the conflict. A mass murderer might be a total f**kwad, and he's locked up for it. The right to vote is exclusive from the justice/punishment side of it all, in my view.
B) I think they should; yes they've done stuff wrong, but they should still have a say in how things are run. I don't really see the conflict. A mass murderer might be a total f**kwad, and he's locked up for it. The right to vote is exclusive from the justice/punishment side of it all, in my view.
We should be stripping prisoners of their rights, not adding to them.
Completely ludicrous, backwards society we live in.
Completely ludicrous, backwards society we live in.