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Essay On Felony Disenfranchisement

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6.1 million Americans cannot vote because of a felony conviction, among the 6.1 million are large groups of the underrepresented. Representation is important when you intend to represent an entire country, so when 6.1 million voters, which of majority are minorities, are disenfranchised, there is a massive cut of representation in our system. This is exactly what is happening right now in the United States. As of 2016, an estimated 6.1 million people were disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. This figure has escalated dramatically in recent decades as the population under criminal justice supervision has increased. Even those who have completed their sentences in the ten states (Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, Florida, and Delaware) that disenfranchise people, post-sentence, make up over 50 percent of the entire disenfranchised population; totaling almost 3.1 million people. If these votes were to be restored, representation would increase, leading to an equal …show more content…

Felony disenfranchisement operates contrary to the goals of ensuring public safety and reducing reoffending by alienating from society those individuals that the criminal justice system is simultaneously attempting to reintegrate. Further, as the Committee has noted, state disenfranchisement laws are problematic not only due to the vast numbers of potential voters they affect, but also their disproportionate impact on racial minorities, particularly African Americans and Hispanics. Further, many of these laws extend punishment beyond the walls of the prison by continuing to disenfranchise individuals who are on probation, parole or have completed their full sentences. For this reason, it is particularly important that the Committee urge the United States to provide its rationale for continuing to deprive individuals with felony convictions of the right to vote after they are no longer

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