Word: reasonings
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...then, do we keep felony disenfranchisement laws at all? One possible reason is that disenfranchisement is a form of retribution: By violating the laws of the land, criminals are deprived of the right to make them. But as a punishment, disenfranchisement is both ineffective and gratuitously cruel. Unlike jail time, it does not prevent the offender from committing additional crimes, nor does it have much deterrent effect. Permanent disenfranchisement does not even serve the Old Testament call for an-eye-for-an-eye retribution; a system in which the murderer suffers the same penalty as the shoplifter cannot be just...
Some would offer a second reason for disenfranchisement: Democracy depends on the virtue of its citizens, and letting criminals vote would only encourage poor government. Such thinking, however, is contrary to America's tradition of expanding democratic participation. When the Constitution was written, propertied white men of more than 21 years of age were viewed as the only "safe" repositories for the vote...
This, then, is the third reason offenders are currently disenfranchised--they're currently disenfranchised. This political Catch-22, in which people need a political voice to get one, is not likely to be broken anytime soon. As a result, there is little reason to be optimistic that those who have been deprived of suffrage will ever regain it. Depending, of course, on how much we value the vote. Stephen E. Sachs '02 lives in Grays Hall...
Matters are sure to worsen in the week after Thanksgiving when campaigning for the council's coveted executive offices officially begins. In years past, the race for the council presidency has been obnoxious and infuriating; there is no reason to believe that the latest crop of would-be politicos will give us anything less than a repulsive exhibition of hubris...
...Many will not agree with [the idea] that women can be as strong as men," Rakow said, arguing that this is the main reason women have less political and earning power. "People have accepted that [women] have the brain power, the motivation [to succeed], but there's still a concept of women as being victims...women have the capability to be equal...