| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:52 pm Post subject: Governor Mcdonnell and Black Leaders |
 |
|
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/10/AR2010041001268.html?hpid=sec-metro
| Quote: |
For the second time in a week, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has angered black leaders and civil rights groups, this time when they learned of his plans to add another step for nonviolent felons to have their voting rights restored.
McDonnell (R) will require the offenders to submit an essay outlining their contributions to society since their release, turning a nearly automatic process into a subjective one that some say may prevent poor, less-educated or minority residents from being allowed to vote. |
Seriously? Black leaders are against this because they think minorities won't be able to write an essay?
I'm sorry, but if you can't even write on a piece of paper what you've contributed to society since committing a Felony, you don't deserve to vote. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Who would read the essays? That's just what we need, some essay reader's union demanding six figure salaries and pensions.
Will the last American working in the private sector please turn off the lights on the way out? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Reggie wrote: |
| Who would read the essays? |
Send them to me. I'm fair and I have years of experience keeping my spastic friends in line. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It seems to me that the right to vote is an either/or thing. Children are denied the right to vote, and we don't make exceptions for kids who are able to write good essays explaining their contributions to society.
If you think a particular category of ex-con doesn't have the right to vote, then don't let them vote, end of story. And if you think they do have the right to vote, let them vote. There's really no in-between here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| On the other hand wrote: |
It seems to me that the right to vote is an either/or thing. Children are denied the right to vote, and we don't make exceptions for kids who are able to write good essays explaining their contributions to society.
If you think a particular category of ex-con doesn't have the right to vote, then don't let them vote, end of story. And if you think they do have the right to vote, let them vote. There's really no in-between here. |
This is correct. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041204106.html
| Quote: |
Although the powers that be in Richmond regard former felons with such contempt that they don't even bother counting them, voting rights advocates estimate that some 300,000 ex-cons in Virginia remain barred from voting. African Americans account for just a fifth of Virginia's 7.8 million citizens but are thought to constitute about half of those ineligible to vote. This is Jim Crow by another name.
Now Mr. McDonnell may be compounding the damage by insisting that nonviolent former felons -- people convicted of shoplifting and other property crimes, for instance -- must do more than just apply to the state if they wish to vote, a process that until now has been time-consuming but generally successful for those who stick with it. Mr. McDonnell would have them submit a letter making the case that they have contributed to society since their release -- an utterly arbitrary standard. What's more, they are asked to explain why they think they should get their rights back.
As we see it, the correct answer is: Because they are rights. Period. By insisting on this exercise in expository writing, Mr. McDonnell is transforming the process into a kind of literacy test -- as obnoxious in its own way as the literacy tests of Jim Crow, which were intended to exclude blacks from voting. Whatever the intent, the likely effect will be to dissuade thousands of people who might otherwise apply. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
annuayim
Joined: 24 Mar 2010
Location: Midwest
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| On the other hand wrote: |
It seems to me that the right to vote is an either/or thing. Children are denied the right to vote, and we don't make exceptions for kids who are able to write good essays explaining their contributions to society.
If you think a particular category of ex-con doesn't have the right to vote, then don't let them vote, end of story. And if you think they do have the right to vote, let them vote. There's really no in-between here. |
This makes perfect sense. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
