Justice system didn't disenfranchise them......they did that to themselves. Not being able to vote is just a very small part of a sentence. I would think most felons would have much more to worry about than voting.
i agree, the government didn't do it. the actions of the individual is the direct cause of their lack of rights.
but keep this in mind, the right to vote for the almost 4 to 5 million felons in America (currently serving and those released and now under no supervision) would bring a huge turning point in any presidential election, it constitutes over 2% of our population.
now that may not sound like allot, but if you consider that on average less than 60% of people eligible to, actually vote in any given election. that 2% now jumps to almost 4% (this does not encompass the current criminals that are not incarcerated or released after a felony conviction, i.e. gangs tend to have dozens or even hundreds of members but only a part of them have been convicted of a felony conspired with the masses but committed by only a few. when i was arrested for sales and conspiracy to distribute pot it was only me and 1 other arrested out of the 200 or more people that i was involved with) and when you look at how close some of the resent election have been you may turn the tides by that small seemingly inconsequential amount.
now if you get a candidate who promises to radically restore the rights of felons after release and adopt a forgive and forget policy, you will have millions of family members and friends who all believe they will be helping their convicted felon family member or friend by voting for this candidate. thus adding 25 maybe 30 million or more votes to that candidate. now you could be looking at lopsided landslide in any election. soon after you would be looking at radical changes in the laws that protect the average citizen. whenever we have tried to pamper and "there there" criminals it is the innocence of the average people that pays the price.
how do we fix them???? no idea. but i know that to hand any control of civilization to them is sure path to the destruction of all society.
FLOTSOM