Convicted Felon Rights Essay Example

Convicted Felons Rights As a teen, you let the pressures of your peers get to you. You started hanging with the wrong crowd and let the petty crimes pile up on your record. The next thing you know, you’re in prison with your first felony. You’ve learned your lesson many years later and prove it by getting a stable job, staying out of trouble, and living by the law. You’re treated like a regular citizen until you march into the local elementary school on voting day to find out your privilege has been revoked. You’ve paid your debt to society. Shouldn’t you be able to vote? Although some felons have committed really bad crimes, they should be able to vote after their served sentence. Convicted felons should be able to vote because they have served their time for the crimes they have committed. Voting rights are often taken away for some period of time depending on the crime that was done. Some states allow felons to vote from prison while other states permanently ban felons from voting, even after being released from prison and having paid all their fines. Voting rights vary from state to state. According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, nationwide there are 5.3 million American citizens who are denied the right to vote because of a criminal conviction, and a disproportionate number of these citizens are minorities (ProQuest). This is a large number of people who cannot vote because of the mistakes that were made in their early years. The majority are people who have stable jobs, pay taxes and obey the law. They should have a right to have a say in what goes on in the country, especially if they changed their ways for the better. Furthermore, if an ex felon can find a job in today’s economy; they should be able to vote. Today, the unemployment rate is higher than ever. In Michigan, amongst many other states, it’s hard for people with clean records to find a job, let alone an ex convict. The unemployment rate for