When we take back the government, can the Democrats please pass a law

[jorgevlorgan]

Guaranteeing peoples' right to vote, and banning states from barring any person from voting -including inmates? The US does not have a constitutional guarantee to vote, and probably wont for a while, but we need to do what we can to get close. Also, stack the scotus so they can't overrule it.

[LiberalArkie]

1. I would like to see a lot of things moved back to the way it was before Reagan & Clinton

[Claustrum]

2. It's up to us, the people, to give them the super majority to do it

because you know the republicans will be against it the whole way.

[jorgevlorgan]

4. Don't nedd a supermajority

They can get rid of the filibuster, or temporarily get rid of it for this issue

[Claustrum]

5. You think stacking SC judges can be done with simple majority?

Then the next time republican get simple majority, they will simply stack it their way.

[jorgevlorgan]

7. Its basically gotten to that since McConnell's stunt in 2016

You really think they wont do that at this pont if we take back the court without stacking it?

[Demsrule86]

13. They are already doing that...time to end the filibuster and let the chip fall where they may.

[Claustrum]

14. I might have read too much into the op but I thought the op meant adding more than 9 justices n/t

[jorgevlorgan]

16. Oh no you're right

That's what I mean by stacking. I am saying this based on the belief that Republicans would do the exact same once we get a majority on the court. A compromise instead of stacking might be to pass a constitutional amendment setting it at 9, while requiring the senate to hold votes on nominees -or something to that extent. Until that happens though, I think it is free game.

[Demsrule86]

22. Could be... but I think Biden said he will add justices if they try to cram through a

Scotus before the election.

[jorgevlorgan]

23. Niiice

[Towlie]

3. No, I don't think inmates should vote, but all of those who have served their sentences should.

[jorgevlorgan]

6. I disagree

A vote is a right that should never be taken away. Especially given the accuracy of our disporportiinately racist justice system and knowing a large amount of felons are actually innocent while a ton of other criminals walk the street or are never charged (see almost every killer cop ever) , the punishment of taking away a right yo vote is just an extension of Jim Crow in states like Mississippi.

[Towlie]

9. "A vote is a right, that should never be taken away." But freedom is also a right!

By your logic, prisoners shouldn't even be prisoners!

Also, inmates can be shielded from current events, so the government could easily lie to them and manipulate them into voting the way it wants.

Edited to add: Imagine a warden allowing prisoners to watch TV but always keeping it set to Fox News.

[jorgevlorgan]

11. Being shielded from current events shouldn't bar somebody from their right to vote.

In the military, you also have a very limited access to the outside world, and a very limited number of sources. For instance in basic training, when I asked about current events from a drill sergeant, they told me there is rioting in Missouri and the national guard was called. They said it was because of looters and did not mention once it was because a man was shot by police in Ferguson. They were our personal fox news: should I not have been allowed to vote if there was an election?

Inmates are allowed to educate themselves, and do frequently. My father in law (and apolgies for being anecdotal) spent ten years in prison, and had 2 years of college while he served his sentence. He has no college degree, but a better understanding of current events than most people with advanced degrees that I know. I imagine it is more likely the case prisoners have a good understanding of what is happening than not. Also I would abridge my statement to say "a vote should be a right and shouldn't be taken away." Because it isn't a right and is always taken away. Prisoners are more than most people in society effected by the policies enacted from our votes and should have as much a say as anybody else what happens to them.

[former9thward]

18. I did my basic training in 1986 and had no problem knowing current events.

Are there some limitations because you can't just do whatever you want during that period? Yes, you might not know who won Dancing with the Stars but you knew basic current events. Besides Basic is a very short period and after that there are no practical limitations. So please don't compare child killers with members of our military. The idea that someone who rapes and kills a child should have the exact same rights as myself to select our leadership is very repulsive.

[jorgevlorgan]

21. That is assuming everybody in prison has been rightfully convicted

When the frequency of DNA vindicating people who have been wrongfully convicted increases daily. There also are non violent offenders who regularly are charged, who reasonably should not have their right to vote taken away. The truth of the matter is, given the accuracy and effectiveness of our justice system, there are likely to be far more terrible people on the outside of those cells than inside (exhibit a: our President). When somebody has their right to vote taken away for years and never committed a crime in their life, maybe we should consider whether that idea works.


In addition, if you read my first point, the racial inequalites of our justice system where minorities have been disproportionately targeted and imprisoned, where substantial amounts of the population who are in prison are black, it becomes less of an issue of "letting child killers vote" and more of an issue of allowing a system of racism to continue the historic trend of taking away peoples' votes because they are black. Prison in the south has in a lot of ways replaced slavery, and one small step towards changing that is to give them a say in changing those racist policies.


ICYMI, this is an excellent documentary on the nature of our prison system and how it has evolved from the institutional racism of slavery and Jim crow:

[Takket]

10. walking around free is also a right, which you forfeit when you do something worthy

of imprisonment.

Voting goes along with that and frankly is the least of anyone's worries if they get sentenced to prison.

The real story here is criminal justice reform to fix the fact that a black person with an ounce of weed is far more likely to end up in prison than, say, someone rich who becomes president and proceeds to violate just about every statute on the books.

[jorgevlorgan]

12. The people with the best understanding of how the justice system hurts people

And what it needs are those who have been on the receiving end of it. The best chances of reform are if we allow all of them to vote regardless of when they served their sentence or are currently serving.

[Budi]

8. We could have had all this in 2016. Some didn't think it important enough then, I guess

*Automatically register voters

*Repair the Voting Rights Act.

*Set a national standard for early voting

*Restore voting rights

*Set aside a National day for voting

FROM Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign policy platform
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/voting-rights/

--------------------------------------------------------------

Here's what else those same voters didn't think important enough :

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/

[former9thward]

19. What about 2009 - 2011?

Democratic President, Democratic House, Democratic Senate.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. I agree that people who are incarcerated should not lose the right to vote.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

17. If the prisoners use the prison's address as their home, ...

... they could be a dominant voting bloc in the remote, sparce, town and county where the prison is located. I guess I don't want prisoners picking the mayor (thus, the police chief), the sheriff, the judges in the community.

If they vote absentee at their home prior to incarceration, I have less of a problem with it.

[Amishman]

20. Ok, as long as we take care of the 4000 more important things first

Voting rights for the actively incarcerated is something I would find it very hard to be impassioned about, though I am far less sympathetic towards criminals than most of DU.

The are so many more things more worthy of the time and political capital it would take to pass this.

[jorgevlorgan]

24. Just because somebody is convicted of a crime doesn't mean

They committed the crime, as the rate of DNA vindications is increasingly proving. And just because somebody isn't in prison doesn't mean they havent done horrible things (it is far more likely somebody committed horrible crimes and didnt get convicted, than otherwise -as only 8% or so of crimes are actually solved, just look at most of the killercops that get off).Given those reality, they should have every right to vote as he rest of us IMHO. Putting off guaranteeing the right to vote only assures we accelerate this spiral into authoritarianism.

ICYMI you can watch it free. This is an excellent documentary on how the prison industrial complex has in many ways replaced slavery and Jim Crow over the years:

.