Why ex-cons should be given the vote

Have you ever committed a felony?

If you've ever written a lewd comment on a postcard, you have committed a felony (which is generally defined as a crime punishable by more than 365 days in prison). Or if you refused to register for the draft after turning 18, or said " fuck" on the radio, or knowingly mis-valued the items in your suitcase, or smuggled an abortion pill from France, or taken a baseball bat to a mailbox.

Then there's the drugs. Use a crack pipe, commit a felony. Snort a line of coke? Felony in 37 states, according to this nifty Robert Wood Johnson Foundation chart. Possession of meth is felonious in 36 states; a single hit of ecstasy in 26.

Guilty yet? If somehow not, then look up your state criminal code and check twice. For what I'm guessing is the vast majority of us who have committed a felony at least once, here's a question: Should we be banned from voting in elections, forever?

Posted on 2003-07-26 12:50:10.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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