Quote:
Originally posted by Lurch@Sep 27 2004, 02:41 PM
So will Bush be allowed to vote? IIRC, DUI is a criminal offence.
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DUI isn't a felony.
Why are people stating that it is an issue of racism? There is nothing that would point towards that as being an issue. The law states that people who have felony offences on their record are not allowed to vote. A law that many people in fact agree with. Now due to the fact that there are more african-americans in prison (a disproportionate number) and conversely a disproportianate number of african-americans with felony records, there is a huge outcry and in fact there are unimformed people who consider Bush a biggot or a racist. This isn't about peoples votes being rejected at the booths, this is about people not being allowed to register as it is against the law for them to vote. It seems to me as though this issue is much ado about nothing.
You might be able to argue systematic racism which has resulted in socio-economic conditions whereby african-americans are put at a disadvantage and ultimently have higher incarceration rates. You could also make a fairly succesful arguement that there are some racist police officers nad the justice system as a whole who have wrongfully incarcerated individuals based on their skin colour.
But the one arguement that does not hold up is the white kids walking. Felony offences are very serious offences. These offences are not ones such as smoking dope for instance. Plus if I steal an automobile and don't get arrested for it, does that mean that everyone else should be allowed to steal an automobile.
Also does anyone have a list of states that this law exists in. I know Florida and I think 13 other states but I don't want to look through all my school notes in an attempt to find this info out.