"That is the punishment that society deems appropriate "
And that, right there, is the issue. What if society doesn't deem it appropriate? And I think there's a fair case to be made that it might not.

In case it's not clear among the crap I've been saying, I'm on the side of prisoners being allowed to vote in certain circumstances.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 14:39, 1 reply, 13 years ago)

If society doesn't deem it appropriate, then imprisoning people for committing crimes
should be stopped. That, however, is not what the discussion is about.
( Kroney, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 14:40, Reply)

That wasn't really my point actually, I may have made it badly.
The point you seem to be making is that 'this is what prison does and that's the end of the matter because it's what society deems appropriate'

The point I was hamfistedly trying to counter with was 'what if society doesn't actually think that taking someone off the streets for whatever reason should automatically mean they lose their right to vote'.

Prisoners don't have 'all' their rights removed anyway, so it becomes a question of where the punishment should end and the rehabilitation should begin. I happen to think that anything that keeps a prisoner who is going to be released actively interested in the outside world is likely to help reduce the risk of them reoffending. A person released back into a world that feels totally alien to them is likely to be less inclined to integrate with it than one who has been allowed to play a part, however small, in shaping it.

And that's the end of me being serious for today.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 14:42, Reply)

I do happen to think it should be a pretty black and white case, yes.
Removal of civil liberties. I'm not advocating removing *all* of their rights as a human being, but there's a difference between removal of civil righs and liberties and removing their basic rights as a human.

People are clouding the waters between the two things.
( Kroney, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 14:54, Reply)

Hanging's too good

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 15:05, Reply)

It must be nice to be so confident in your view of how things houl db e.

( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 15:07, Reply)

It is, yes. It is, however, only my view of how things should be.

( Kroney, Wed 24 Oct 2012, 15:08, Reply)