[Tom]

Big issue at the minute.

[Patrick]

No.

They've been inside, how the hell do they know what's good for the country and that when some of them have been locked away for over 10, 20 years?

[Legend killer]

Depends on how serious thier crime was IMO

[Mystic Mock]

if your on about should they be allowed to vote for a goverment then no as they would vote labour back in.

[InOne]

All depends on the crime and how long they've been out of society. People are always quick to bring up extreme examples like Brady or The Yorkshire Ripper which is ridiculous of course.

[MTVN]

Yes, it should be a fundamental right in a democracy that all citizens get to vote. I dont think it would really matter either way, I cant imagine many serious criminals being particularly passionate about politics.

[Tom]

I think they should be allowed to vote if they're going to be released in the term. Otherwise its pointless and with an extra 80,000 there are huge flaws in it. An extreme example is that a party could come along and say they're going to release so many prisoners, and guess who gets the prison vote.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Yes, it should be a fundamental right in a democracy that all citizens get to vote. I dont think it would really matter either way, I cant imagine many serious criminals being particularly passionate about politics.

yes they would as they would want to keep there tvs,ps3s and xbox 360s.

[arista]

No.

Sadly we are still Stuck under Euro Laws
so it is forced onto us.
Or we would pay massive fines

[Jamie.....]

No, they lost their rights when they broke the law

[Smithy]

^

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Tom

I think they should be allowed to vote if they're going to be released in the term. Otherwise its pointless and with an extra 80,000 there are huge flaws in it.

Yeah that's a good point actually.

[BB_Eye]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Yes, it should be a fundamental right in a democracy that all citizens get to vote. I dont think it would really matter either way, I cant imagine many serious criminals being particularly passionate about politics.

But convicts are not citizens.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by BB_Eye

But convicts are not citizens.

this.

[Mrluvaluva]

I think it depends on the term and the sentence. Murderers, rapists etc should lose all human rights for life in my opinion.

[joeysteele]

No, for no other reason than the fact beiing in prison is the removal of your freedom,your free will loss is part of the punishment, so no, once the time is done and they rejoin society,then fine, those rights are restored.

The Human rights act is very flawed,the worst thing would be if this Govt failed to exclude murderers, paedophiles and sex crime offenders from being given the right to vote.

Its clear from the EU ruling that some prisoners now will have to have their voting rights restored, I would still say no to it though.

It cannot be right to say some people have to be removed from society but then have them have a say on who makes the laws in that society.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by BB_Eye

But convicts are not citizens.

Is that technically true or is that just your opinion?

[Beastie]

No.

[Angus]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

No, for no other reason than the fact beiing in prison is the removal of your freedom,your free will loss is part of the punishment, so no, once the time is done and they rejoin society,then fine, those rights are restored.

The Human rights act is very flawed,the worst thing would be if this Govt failed to exclude murderers, paedophiles and sex crime offenders from being given the right to vote.

Its clear from the EU ruling that some prisoners now will have to have their voting rights restored, I would still say no to it though.

It cannot be right to say some people have to be removed from society but then have them have a say on who makes the laws in that society.

Exactly. In order to have rights you also have commensurate responsibilities. If criminals have broken the law they have relinquished their rights for the duration of their imprisonment.

It's about time there was some commonsense brought to the justice system, else it won't be long before criminals use Human Rights legislation to argue that they have the right NOT to be locked up.

[Shasown]

Depends on the circumstances. Long term criminals probably wont get the right to vote.

Interestingly up to a fifth of the Scottish Prison population at any one time are fine defaulters. Some of them turn up to court having defaulted on a fine or Council Tax payment order and have no means to pay off the outstanding amount in a lump sum.

An example of this. A man I used to employ who was partially disabled, I employed him for some driving jobs, he then got a full time job as a delivery driver for the local council. He was charged for driving without due care and attention for being involved in an accident in which a large amount of damage to a house occured. He was fined over Ł1800.

He also lost his licence due to having points on his licence already due to speeding etc. he lost his job with the local council because he wasnt able to drive now, so couldnt repay the fine, as he wasnt assessed fit enough to carry out community service the sheriff could have dismissed the fine, dont think the sheriff was in too good a mood the day this lad went to court, the sheriff converted the fine into time and sent the lad down for 2 months.

[Lewis.]

On the fence for this one. At first thought It doesn't really bother me whether prisoners are able to vote or not, however after reading some opinions, it's kind of made me think again. What's the current situation with voting?

[BB_Eye]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Is that technically true or is that just your opinion?

Without the law, there would be no such thing as a citizen. How can you be prepared to define prisoners as citizens if...

a. They have broken the law of their nation state thereby failing to meet their responsibility as citizens

b. They have forfeited their right to liberty and privacy

Either way, the European Court of Human Rights cannot account for giving prisoners the same rights as law-abiding citizens. This is no surprise given that the hand-picked bureaucrats of the European commission were never elected to represent the interest of citizens in the first place.

[cupid stunt]

yes dont see why not, unless there nonces or rapists/child killers

[Shasown]

Originally Posted by BB_Eye

Without the law, there would be no such thing as a citizen. How can you be prepared to define prisoners as citizens if...

a. They have broken the law of their nation state thereby failing to meet their responsibility as citizens

b. They have forfeited their right to liberty and privacy

Either way, the European Court of Human Rights cannot account for giving prisoners the same rights as law-abiding citizens. This is no surprise given that the hand-picked bureaucrats of the European commission were never elected to represent the interest of citizens in the first place.

Except the ECHR are not trying to give prisoners the same rights as law abiding citizens, this is a ruling from 2004 declaring the blanket ban on all prisoners voting as defined in the Representation of the People Act of 1983 to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The last two administrations didnt bother dealing with it, apparently both Blair and Brown were too busy running the country into the ground.

[bananarama]

Fundamental right of anyone criminal or otherwise....The right to vote......

Remember Governments determin the laws that put people in jail and the duration and conditions of the sentence......Govenments affect prisoners so as such they should have the fundamental right to vote.......


Some say because you are a criminal you lose that right......Oh yeah......Think back to when the Government of the days would send sexually active homosexuals to jail for their activities........They made them criminals with no right to vote should a governemnet with morality be on offer.....

Governments invent bad laws and criminalise people for activities they simply dont like for personal or religious reasons........"In captial letters" Of course they should have the vote.........The Government of the day past and present are dictatorial repressive criminals for not allowing such a basic human right. Regardless of the nature of the crime Voting should be a sacred right to all that believe in a society with a voice and the right of expression for all.......