Why do we punish people for the rest of their lives even after they have done their time and paid their debt?

Question

to society?...convicted felons can't vote, can't travel to certain countries, can't join the armed forces, can't become a cop, can't ever own a gun even if they weren't convicted of a violent crime, long-time legal permanent residents could be get deported if they do at least a year in prison(used to be 5 years before the 1996 laws), etc..and the list goes on. Does the U.S. government think that people can never change and so we must punish them for the rest of their lives? Are "good moral character" requirements in reality "perfection" requirements? It's like saying "We know you were 19 at the time of the involuntary manslaughter, but we don't care that you're 56 now and that you're a better person"...

Write - I never said I didn't care for the victims and that I don't believe people should be punished.

Answer 1

Those are privileges, not rights, and the felon gives up those privileges by committing a crime against the society that originally offered them those privileges. Tell me this: If the person your theoretical felon killed at age 19 (involuntarily or not) was your son or daughter, your sister, brother, mother, or father, would you ever consider they had "paid their debt"? This felon of yours took away from them not a privilege, but a right to life. They supposedly paid their debt and by your theory should have all their privileges restored. But your loved one is still just as dead. No, the justice system has it right.

Edit to joeanimal: No, I don't believe Texas has that distinction. Link, please?

Answer 2

Maybe there could be a standard of demonstrating good character or something, but I suspect this is born of the Protestant 'determinism' culture - you 'are' a type of person, and you have shown it by your acts. You 'can' be saved but it is very rare. The pilgrims felt that if you were poor, there was a reason for it, as well.

Just a philosophical note. I think it is OK to say that the burden is on you once you do something of a certain level, to show you are now no longer voting/acting from a place unacceptable to society.

Answer 3

Our government believes human beings can exchange however the regularly occurring public of the time human beings do no longer exchange and are basically pretending. as an occasion in my state there replaced right into slightly 3 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous female who broke the two legs and her collar bone. After that the state went in and took her removed from her mom and step father. After some months a decide mentioned that her mom and step dad had replaced. by employing the subsequent 3 hundred and sixty 5 days she replaced into ineffective. no longer by employing nature yet by employing fourced trama to the tummy.

Answer 4

Those are not after the punishment issues, they are part of the punishment, they just are not listed in the court documents.

Might also have something to do with the rate that a convicted criminal will be convicted of another crime with-in 3 years. why is Texas's rate so much lower? could it be because they are so much harsher and unforgiving when they punish a criminal?

ADULT CORRECTIONAL RECIDIVISM RATES

THREE YEAR STATE - RE-INCARCERATION RATE

California - 60.5%

Colorado - 46.8%

National - 51.8%

Pennsylvania - 45.9%

Texas - 2000 - 31.2%

Texas - 2001 - 28.3%

Answer 5

Because they don't want drug only non violent felons voting to legalize marjuana.

Also telling people they can't do something makes them want to do it more.The harder it is to vote the more people do so. If you eant to cut voter turn out in half from even todays low levels drop the voting age to 16. If Americans had to avoid land mines to get to the polling places, turn out would increase not decrese.

Answer 6

Its a matter of trusting someones judgement for thier lack of common decentcy and respect for their victims.

If you want tolive next door to a serial murderer, or a gang violence criminal, or even have your children play next door to a child molestor go right ahead....but its common sense to show theseoffenders that they must live up to their mistakes.

Why do people always seem to think more for the criminals then they do for the victims and for society as a whole?

Answer 7

what i want to know is why do people accept the fact that wealthy and famous people do not face the same level of enforcement as regular people??!!!

athletes, politicians celebrity's, drug violations, alcohol abuse, same crap regular folks do, and even murder!!

public defenders are wore out lawyers just trying to get some practice in before they get their own practice set up!!!

we wanted to get tough on crime so we allowed the government to take things over, jail everyone with no tolerance, no proper representation, and with the prison system the way its set up just creating lifetime criminals!!!

so go figure!!!

Answer 8

A pedophile doesn't deserve a second chance...just a first bullet and removal from the living.

Answer 9

I agree.We do sorta give out 2 different messages in the way we treat the rehabilitated

Answer 10

Your question is a real good deterrent , I'M STAYING ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW,