Loss Of The Right To Vote For Inmates

Running Head: LOSS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR INMATES 1

Loss of the Right to Vote for Inmates

Student’s Name

Institution-Affiliated

LOSS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR INMATES 2

Loss of the Right to Vote for Inmates

Part A

1. Describe the loss of the right to vote for inmates who are incarcerated.

The history of the loss of voting rights has been in existence in the United States

since time in memorial due to diverse reasons. Incarceration is one reason that lead to

the loss of voting rights, and the practice has persisted within the criminal justice

system. In the past American setup, the white, wealthy individuals granted themselves

the right to vote, in the process, excluding the poor, women, blacks, and people

convicted with felonies (Murakawa, 2014). In contemporary America, all the

mentioned groups have been granted the right to vote except for those who have been

incarcerated of a felony and the mentally ill individuals. However, different states

formulate felony disenfranchisement laws that determine the deprivation of the right

to vote. In most of the states, including Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky, and Florida have

regulations in which individuals convicted of a felony permanently lose the right to

vote. In the state, the right to vote can be regard through a process that requires the

pardon of a governor; however, the process is tedious and hence making it had to

regain the lost right to vote (Murakawa, 2014).

2. Is race is an underlying issue in this process? Provide one (1) supporting fact to

justify your response.

Racial discrimination is an underlying issue in the process, and in that case, the

African Americans and the non-whites are the casualties of the biases. Race plays a

role in the dictating the manner in which the process is run whereby it is difficult for

the African Americans to be pardoned compared to their whites counterparts

(Murakawa, 2014). In some of the states, one of every three nonwhites has been

disenfranchisement which brings the number of African Americans who have been

LOSS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR INMATES 3

disenfranchisement to approximately 1.4 million which is around 36% of all the

disenfranchisement cases in the nation (Weaver, Hacker, & Wildeman, 2014).

3. Do you believe that inmates should have the right to vote? Provide one (1)

supporting fact to justify your position.

In my opinion I don’t believe that inmates should be granted the right to vote

when they are behind bars, however, after completing their sentences, the right should

be reversed back to them. The laws and regulations are meant to guide and protect the

law abiding citizens and hence it provides them with the opportunity to determine

who should govern them and formulate laws on their behalf. Therefore, inmates

convicted of felonies should not be granted the right to vote since they have no

business determining the people to lead those who are free. When such rights are

granted, they are likely to indulge in practices that will abuse the right since many of

them do not have direct interest in the progress of the state. In Massachusetts for

example, the right to vote by inmates had to be revoked through a referendum after a

scenario where the inmates organized a political action committee hat would have

been a threat to the wellbeing of the state.

Part B

1. Briefly describe mandatory release and good-time release.

Mandatory release it the pardon of the offender after serving the full term of the

sentence that the court passed. The mandatory release takes into account all the

good-time credit which are earned due to proper behavior in the facility and hence

reducing the time of sentence. The release may be conditional an in such cases the

offender may be returned to prison for failing to comply with the regulations of their

release. However, when the offender serves the entire sentence in incarceration, then

LOSS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR INMATES 4

they are released without any condition in a process termed as the expiratory sentence

which implies that the full retention period has been achieved . On the other hand,

good-time release is due to the conduct of the inmate and the approval of the Bureau

of Prison

2. Describe one (1) way inmates receive/apply good-time credit to their

release.

Good-time credit is the amount of time that is reduced from the sentence period

of an inmate after they exhibit good behavior by following the rules of the prison and

staying out of trouble within the facility. Good-time credit has the advantage of

reducing the actual prison time of an inmate and hence resulting in their early release.

The time that is cut from the sentence is referred to as the good conduct time, and it is

determined by the Bureau of Prison (Rhine, Petersilia& Reitz, 2017). According to

the 18 USCS 3624 (b), an inmate serving more than one year and not life

imprisonment may receiving a good-time credit commencing at the end of the first

year of up to 54 days at the end of each year based on the recommendation of the

Bureau of Prison (Larkin, 2013).

3. Is this process is beneficial to the criminal justice system as a whole? Provide

one (1) supporting fact to justify your position.

The process is beneficial to the criminal justice system and most so to the inmate

and their families. The essence for the formation of detention facilities is to promote

rehabilitation and hence when the inmates receive good-time credit; it helps them in

the rehabilitation because the good deeds will be rewarded (Larkin, 2013). Moreover,

the process is beneficial to the first time offenders who may not have intended to

commit the crime and are hence remorseful for the wrongdoing. Despite the early

release program not being 100% safe, for the first time nonviolent offender, it helps

LOSS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR INMATES 5

reduce the crime rate in the society since they feel the importance of freedom and the

favor done to them. Additionally, the process helps the state and the criminal justice

system to save money that would have been spent in the detention facilities (Larkin,

2013). In Colorado, for example, the early release program has helped the state save

approximately $45 million that would be spent on rehabilitation and retention of the

offenders (Larkin, 2013).

4 Do you think inmates should be able to earn good-time release? Provide one

(1) supporting fact to justify your position.

I believe that inmates should be able to earn good-time release after passing the

requirements since it is an indication of the progress that has been made in the

rehabilitation of the individuals. Since the correction facilities intend to facilitate the

rehabilitation of the inmates, therefore, if the individuals show progress by adopting

the right behavior, then it is vital to let them earn the good-time release. Before the

inmates are released, they engage in educational programs and learning of basic life

skill which is helpful in ensuring that they do not indulge in crime once they are

released.

LOSS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR INMATES 6

References

Larkin, P. J. (2013). Clemency, Parole, Good-Time Credits, and Crowded Prisons:

Reconsidering Early Release. Browser Download This Paper.

Murakawa, N. (2014). The first civil right: How liberals built prison America. Oxford

University Press.

Rhine, E. E., Petersilia, J., & Reitz, K. R. (2017). The Future of Parole Release. Crime

and Justice, 46(1), 279-338.

Weaver, V. M., Hacker, J. S., & Wildeman, C. (2014). Detaining democracy?

Criminal justice and American civic life.

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