Read the articles below then write a short essay in response to the following question:
Write a paper arguing for or against voting rights for felons. Choose a specific audience and convince them to change their view.
Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote After They Have Served Their Time?
Almost six million Americans have been stripped of their right to vote — many for the rest of their lives. Most states prohibit prisoners in jail from voting, but some states bar felons from ever voting, even decades after they are released, unless they receive clemency from the governor. Felonies can include violent crimes like murder and assault, but also nonviolent crimes like tax evasion, drug dealing and check fraud.
Read the following articles to inform your views, then write a paper defending one side of this issue.
Holder Urges States to Lift Bans on Felons’ Voting,” by Matt Apuzzo
“6 Million Americans Without a Voice”, The Times Editorial Board
Roger Clegg, President and General Counsel for the Center for Equal Opportunity
There Are Good Reasons for Felons to Lose the Right to Vote
Write a paper arguing for or against voting rights for felons. Choose a specific audience and convince them to change their view.
*Make sure your essay includes a thesis statement, at least three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.
Use evidence from the readings to support your points.
Remember too think about your audience and your purpose for writing. To whom are you writing and why? What are you trying to prove?
Proofread Carefully
an introduction and conclusion,
a thesis statement,
relevant topic sentences,
body paragraphs focused on one main idea each,
a logical progression of ideas,
ideas developed and supported with specific details,
a clear presentation of your ideas,
sentences free or almost free from errors, and
strive to complete the essay
The Writing Prompt
Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote After They Have Served Their Time? Why or why not?
Almost six million Americans have been stripped of their right to vote — many for the rest of their lives. Most states prohibit prisoners in jail from voting, but some states bar felons from ever voting, even decades after they are released, unless they receive clemency from the governor. Felonies can include violent crimes like murder and assault, but also nonviolent crimes like tax evasion, drug dealing and check fraud.
Should people convicted of felonies ever be allowed to vote?
In “Holder Urges States to Lift Bans on Felons’ Voting,” Matt Apuzzo writes:
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. called Tuesday for the repeal of laws that prohibit millions of felons from voting, underscoring the Obama administration’s determination to elevate issues of criminal justice and race in the president’s second term and create a lasting civil rights legacy.
In a speech at Georgetown University, Mr. Holder described today’s prohibitions — which in some cases bar those convicted from voting for life — as a vestige of the racist policies of the South after the Civil War, when states used the criminal justice system to keep blacks from fully participating in society.
“Those swept up in this system too often had their rights rescinded, their dignity diminished, and the full measure of their citizenship revoked for the rest of their lives,” Mr. Holder said. “They could not vote.”
Mr. Holder has no authority to enact the changes he called for, given that states establish the rules under which people can vote.
The Times Editorial Board also weighs in on the subject in “6 Million Americans Without a Voice”:
The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy, yet nearly six million Americans are denied that right, in many cases for life, because they have been convicted of a crime. Some states disenfranchise more than 7 percent of their adult citizens. …
State laws that disenfranchise people who have served their time “defy the principles — of accountability and rehabilitation — that guide our criminal justice policies,” Mr. Holder said in urging state lawmakers to repeal them. “By perpetuating the stigma and isolation imposed on formerly incarcerated individuals, these laws increase the likelihood they will commit future crimes.”
Sample Solution