A slap in the face
A Seattle Times editorial published on Monday [“Appeal felon-vote ruling.” Opinion, Jan. 11] addressed the Washington state “felon disenfranchisement law,” which denies voting rights for persons who have been convicted of felonies and incarcerated. The editorial notes that “Washington has stripped felons of their right to vote as a punishment on top of time behind bars.”
I doubt that as a “punishment,” this law has any impact on felons. Nor would it have any impact as a crime deterrent. But what it does do — as the editorial points out — is compound a person’s “separation from civil society.” It is, as you suggest, an additional slap in the face for the felon.
Is this what we want, to further humiliate persons who have been convicted of crimes? We know that crime is in part the result of disadvantaged opportunity, discrimination and victimization, particularly when applied to youth and children. To pretend that this is not the case is to be blind to the realities of contemporary society.
Our goal in working with those in the criminal-justice system should be more appropriately directed toward rehabilitation. Providing access to education, employment and appropriate housing would serve as examples of activities that could assist this group to reintegrate into “civil society.”
Disenfranchisement, further stigmatization and alienation of this population will only impede rehabilitation and, as an additional outcome, put others in the community at greater risk of crime.
— Jere G. LaFollette, Mount Vernon
Exposes discrimination
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that felons should have the right to vote, because denying them that right disenfranchises minority voters disproportionately. It is long overdue that the issue of discrimination in incarceration is exposed.
While females comprise over 50 percent of the population, they make up less than 10 percent of the inmate population. Arrest rates of people younger than 30 make up a vastly higher proportion than their percentage of population. And if one studied the education level of inmates, one would see that people with college degrees are vastly underrepresented as compared to their population at large.
By using plain, provable statistics, it is obvious that the police are deliberately not arresting retired, white, college-educated females to the degree that they should be.
This reverse discrimination must stop.
— Tom Tangen, Edmonds
Uncomfortable with the notion
It’s nice to know that here in the state of Washington, logic and common sense have been buried under a steaming pile of political correctness.
I can’t say that I’m comfortable with the notion that I now have the same voting rights as gangbangers and level-three sex offenders. These people are felons for a reason.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it a lawyer’s job to uphold the law, not destroy it? It’s quite apparent that none of those [9th Circuit Court] judges have ever been robbed at gunpoint.
— Jeremy Ghea, Federal Way