It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

Gary of The Red Armchair considers laws that prohibit felons from voting and asks a thoughtful question:

The main question for all of us should be: Is this legal disenfranchisement of voters justified, and even if justified, is it constitutional. I would submit that these laws are unnecessary.

In my view, once you have left the custody of the penal system, you should as with every other part of your life, be reinstated to full US citizenship. In states that allow a former convict to appeal and then be allowed to vote, the laws need to be made much simpler. In fact, the laws should not even exist. If you are in jail you should not vote, this is because the very idea of imprisonment is a state sanction that for a time deprives you of life, liberty, and property. Yet when you are released from this punishment no limitation should exist on any part of your freedoms.

I agree.