Should Prisoners Be Given The Right To Vote?

cause Adam Sessler said so.

Bad example. Cutting off your hand would have very negative consequences for you. Studying to be able to vote would have the positive effect of gained knowledge, along with the ability to vote.

here's the rest of my post you missed:
so your argument in regards to the racial-factor is a bit of a non-point, and I know(hope) you have enough common sense to get what I am saying.

how exactly does the repercussions of the actions mean that I am not capable of doing the action?
I am still capable regardless.
bad example.

again, you are hitting upon a non-point and the actual point of "we already fixed that ***in the civil war, why would we do it again?"
kind of deal.

I think it should be allowed only on prisoners who'll see outside of the prison walls withing "X" time frame.

If you're in there for 50+ years, life, DP, etc. Then no, because I don't think their vote will be genuine, or even affect them at all.

Then again, how many prisoners would actually care to vote?

I just sort of see, the mindset of a person who would go to prison, wouldn't exactly be Mr. Americana, and want to go and vote. I would think.

Then there's that 5% who would love to vote.

Edit:
My avatar has been this for over a month, but it's a picture of me with an "I voted" sticker on my face. lol

You were saying that capable isn't the same as "those who are well educated and understand politics and the economy". What I am saying is that anyone IS capable of achieving that level of understanding. If this was a requirement for voting, people would be more likely to actually put forth effort to achieve this.

There is however, no good reason for someone to willy-nilly cut off their own hand, therefor bad example.

Let me clear this up. I would not want to disclude any individual from voting, unless they are unwilling to put in the effort to actually understand what they are voting for.

People sentenced to county jail ( < 365 days ) should be allowed to vote. And by no means would I castrate anyone in county jail like some of have. Apparently you have no idea how much *** they lock people up for.

For people sent to state prison ( > 365 days) it should be a privilege you earn back, like work release etc.

Maybe I missed it.. Where the hell did castration come into the equation?

Unless i'm being wooshed, 3/5.

For the OP, IMO, there's zero reason to take away a person's voting rights so long as they are a citizen of the country in question.

America, already having some states that deny voting rights to past convicts, is trying to go even further and strip citizenship of some of its law abiding citizens just because certain people are afraid of the shifting demographics of the country. Small problem of the 14th amendment to get around but don't tell that to Steve King!

no

what if they say they understand?
who are YOU to tell them they are wrong?
who is anyone?
you keep on missing my good edits that happen only seconds later(i'm at work so i have been doing this inbetween a few tech tickets)

again, you are hitting upon a non-point and not the actual point of "we already fixed that ***in the civil war, why would we do it again?"
kind of deal.

Look up definition.

Applies to minds who think like this:
And this:

I think a lot of things should be done first prior to worrying about prisoners voting...but eh.
I think fixing the prison system>voting prisoners though lol.

someone's understanding of something can be measured in several ways. A simple short answer exam would work fine.

I do not believe it has already been fixed. If our political system was fixed, our government wouldn't be in nearly as bad of a shithole as it is now.

I think what Vinvv touches on here has to do with the classic 'voter disenfranchisement' bit that occurred in the US antebellum South prior to the passage of the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_disenfranchisement

...mostly having to do with literacy tests and other means by which blacks would be denied the right to vote because of arbitrary 'standards' that were enforced. The logical extension is who gets to design the competency tests in question and how would they be assured to be unbiased unlike those that came before?

But as the article above points out, there is a long-standing accepted standard for denying convicted felons the right to vote in the US even to the point of having a life-long denial of the voting right in some states. I do understand the OP was regarding an EU decision for policy, but I am just explaining in regard to how other countries might view the same issue.

I myself wouldn't mind prisoners in general being allowed to vote, but to me personally, I'd like then to also have a return to heavy use of prison labour as a deterrent to crime in exchange. While that sounds so Draconian, the current US criminal justice system--while overcrowded--really gives a very cushy existence...in some ways better than a lot of Americans get. I don't buy into the ideas of there being "Club Fed" type "resort prisons" but at the same time I do know of homeless people committing crimes then turning themselves in just to have a better life in jail than living on the streets.

So I am for treating prisoners more like citizens, but there should also be a reason people would not want to go to jail...and for those that do their labour should go to creating public works that benefit everyone (more than, say, cleaning up freeways or making license plates.)

Perhaps I should have used a word that doesn't have such a variety of definitions like deface or incapacitate.

So true.

Hell no they shouldn't and they should create an eligibility test so not just anyone can vote just because they become of age.

You know what I mean, you get pretty excited over semantics don'tcha.

i guess i have to use my words in a very defended manner with ya.

Our country has already previously had issues where they took away the rights of citizens in such a way, and this act was unconstitutional.
NVM this isn't all that defended.
I have to go through a torrent of snow so i bid you adieu.

When you are in jail or prision you lose the right to vote as a person now with that said if you get out or been out you should be able to vote. This is me though and my opinion I belive every1 should have a vote no matter what they have done.

NO NO and NO.

If you are a criminal you Gave up the right to vote when you decided to not respect the law (right or wrong).

If you are a convicted criminal not only you dont deserve to be part of the alection of representative and partecipation to popular laws (referendums) but you also have a vested interest on voting for one or the other.

This is pure *** and this EU political correctness have to stop.

I am not against Human rights at all but this is going to far.

While I do agree with this mentality, you have to remember, not everyone in prison is murderers and rapists. People do get put in jail for some really stupid ***, and what they're in for and the like needs to be taken into account in my opinion.

Why should what they are in for be taken into account. What they are in for determines there length of imprisonment already. So if there crime is small there rights are taken for less time, and if their crime is grave well than there rights are gone for a much longer time.

Cool because no one is ever wrongly accused and there aren't some really HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE laws, not to mention the fact that elections aren't constant; you can only vote during a very short period of time.

Well lets say its gonna be like that you say. Would you like to pay more taxes in order to *** every prisoner one by one?
I do agree with what you are saying, but clearly this is a "freedom for all" directive from the EU.
And mind you, we are much different with US, every nation has its sovereignity and tradition and noone wants to give up a tiny bit of it.
For us is so much an intrusion in our sovereignity than could ever be for the enforcement of a federal law in any state of the US.

Edit: Freedom for all because it is clear that its not possible to *** every prisoner individually.

Wow some people are completely oblivious to the huge flaws in the criminal justice system.

Take this for example:
Two people can commit the exact same "crime" but depending on how much money you have can determine which one actually goes to jail and which one doesn't.

Do the rights of the person who got set free get removed? No.

I fail to see what being wrongly accused has to do with anything. Sure that happens and yes its a shame but they were convicted in court of whatever they were charged with. That is a lot better than what many countries have at least we are innocent till proven guilty.

Usually those who have never had to deal with the criminal justice system are oblivious to it's countless flaws. I've been *** over by it on BOTH sides, as a victim and as a 'criminal/suspect'.

This is completely true but I don't understand your point as far as the OPs question.

So because the system is flawed prisoners should therefor be given the same rights as every other citizen?

My whole point is just because people are in jail or prison doesn't mean we should think of them as caged animals who should be stripped away of all humanity and left to rot.