Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is there any incentive to obey laws anymore ?
Is there anywhere in the constitution that states that if you go to prison you lose the right to vote? Serious question.
Yes and no, thanks to the delicately worded duplicity of the 14th Amendment.
As you know, the 14th Amendment abolished slavery and Section I grants citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the Civil War.
However, Section II of the 14th Amendment provides a cozy little loophole which states that some kinds of discrimination,
such as based on criminal convictions, citizenship, and residence, are indeed permissible.
Couple that with the fact that state governments have the right to establish requirements for voters, voter registration, and conduct of elections and you have a perfectly prejudicial system that allows U.S. citizens to be legally disenfranchised in accordance with the Constitution.
Here's a breakdown of state-by-state voting laws for felons.
