This is one of those things that really hits home with me because as new adult citizen, I was so close to becoming a felon it scares me to think about it.
If you break the law, you are supposed to pay your fine or do your time and then that is supposed to be the end of it.
However we all know that is not the end of it.
Anyone that has ever got a speeding ticket knows
1. you get caught
2. you get your ticket you either fight it or not. pay your fine and court costs. and then you are on some sort of probation for a number of years and eventually those points drop off your record.
If you violate the law to many times in a certain time frame you lose the ability to drive for a period of time.
Felons on the other hand, Go through all the above but never ever get their rights back.
If you are a felon you never get your right to bear arms again and you are forever “stained” with the mark of a felon.
So once you are a felon, what incentive do you have to get back on the straight and narrow?
You are totally fucked when you get out of prison!
No one will hire you. You will have a seriously tough time finding a place to live. (not like you have a ton of money saved up while you were in prison)
You are dropped back into society with almost no way to get a job or a place to call your own. There is very little incentive to play by the rules and a whole lot of incentive to break the law again to either get the things you need or to get put back in prison so you have a roof over your head and food in your belly.
My solution to this is fairly straight forward.
Unless you are convicted of Heinous crimes (Premeditated Murder, Serial Rape, Kidnapping, Espionage, Defrauding more than 100 people.)
You should get all of your rights back after 7 years (just like people that go bankrupt. if they play by the rules and show responsibility they get their credit standing back) More serious crimes perhaps full rights after 13 years.
Business have a right to know if the person your are hiring has a record but that should only go back 7 years
and perhaps some sort of tax break for businesses that employ ex-felons
3 replies on “Political beliefs (Criminal Justice system – Felons & rehabilitation)”
Not to say that you are wrong and I would agree that if you did your time you should be able have all your rights of citizenship reinstated after demonstrating your ability to assimilate back into society. You did leave off pedophilia from your list of heinous crimes btw. All that said as dire as any situation may be your motivation should always to be the best person you can be and a better person than you were yesterday. Look inward.
I agree with you about it being a heinous crime. There are a number of other crimes I would toss in there as well, but I felt it might distract from the general sentiment.
I have never heard it spelled out like this, thanks!