This article originally appeared in The Guardian.
With another presidential election approaching, there is growing discussion about the fact that up to 6 million American citizens have been disenfranchised (pdf) – many for life – due to a felony conviction. They (along with millions more who can vote) were never told that their voting rights would be lost, suspended or – perhaps – restored; or that, even years after release and re-integration, moving across a state line could subject them to this cycle all over again.
I'm not even sure we should take away prisoners' right to vote when they're locked up (can we trust that prisons are humane places if we refuse to consider the opinions of those who have to live there?) — but continuing to deny them that fundamental right even after they've completed their sentence is truly cruel, if not unusual.
Agreed. It suggests our society prefers to label rather than rehabilitate people who go through the justice system