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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cosmicforce who wrote (1361)	10/6/2000 12:18:30 AM
From: scoobypax	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

Cosmic.. A couple of observations.. If you figure that a majority of black males* have gone through the justice system in some way* That's your figuring and a gross exaggeration I believe. I think "black felons" account for far less than "the majority" of black males, but I also believe that the majority of black males in general have NOT gone through the justice system in some way like you're suggesting. (I get YOUR point though) In a really good election turn out, 30% of the population votes And I believe this number is grossly overstated. Seriously, I don't know the "real numbers", but I think it's closer to 5%.. Let's make an open challenge to someone who knows how/where to look it up.. US Census Bureau? Anyway, I think your "figuring" is way off balance.

To: cosmicforce who wrote (1361)	10/6/2000 1:02:40 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

once convicted of a "felony", including victimless, non-violent crimes such as drug possession, Actually, you can apply for a restoration of your voting rights by petitioning each state's board of pardons. That is the control mechanism that insures that those who have their rights restored are citizens in good standing (have stayed out of trouble). And it isn't just African-Americans who suffered this problem. We can look back into US history and name any number of ethnic groups that suffered similar issues. Yet these problems are not permanent and they provide an incentive for the children of felons hopefully not to follow the same track that "my 'ol man did". Besides, the way the current system works, most felons can move to another state, get a job, and within 10 years they can show proof of residence and vote. It's illegal, but it happens all the time and I don't believe that there is any criminal penalty that would be applied, at most a fine for providing false information. But try and take that to court and win.... Florida alone had 50,000 felons on it voting registers in 1998. americanpatrol.com insidenaples.com Now I can see why a liberal democrat would wish to provide blanket pardons to all convicts. It would be a great way of increasing the number of people more likely to vote for them, just like Al Gore arranged in bestowing citizenship to some 1 million people who had not fulfilled a mandatory criminal background check back in Fall, 1996 since they would likely vote Democratic (feeling grateful). Unfortunately, some 60,000 of them were felons. Listen.. why not just pardon and release all of our convicts from prison and drive them all to the voting booth this November 7th. If the liberals feel the only way to win an election is by resorting to the criminal vote (like Marion Barry did in DC), then I guess I'm moving to Australia or New Zealand... where maybe some semblance of common sense still reigns. Petition to the board of pardons.. and if reform is required, make that reform occur at that level and not for cynical politcal gain. After all, no one forced them to commit a felony.... It was their own choice.. Regards, Ron