It’s not time to give felons back their right to vote

"It’s time to give felons back their right to vote"

It is a good question whether or not a person who is convicted of a felony should be able to regain the right to vote. My purpose here is not to answer that question.

What bothers me about this op-ed piece is the author's identification of these disenfranchised convicted felons as victims. They are not victims; they are criminals who are suffering the consequences of their actions.

There is a tendency among liberals to want to spare people from experiencing the consequences of their wrong actions and this is an example of that. This author seems to think that society--with its system of laws and punishments--is the villain here and the criminal is the innocent one. He is morally confused in thinking this and it is important not to let him confuse the rest of us.

The idea that this law of Virginia is an expression of racial injustice is especially perverse. Certainly there is not one set of laws on the books for African-Americans and another for everyone else. If a disproportionate number of African-Americans cannot vote as a result of this law (and there is no indication in the piece that this is the case), it is not the fault of the law but of those who have broken it.

On second thought, I can see no reason why Virginia should repeal this law. Voting is the way that we influence what government does. If we want government to do what is right, then those who vote need to have a strong sense of right and wrong. Anyone who is convicted of a felony is by definition lacking in this, at least at the time of his or her offense.