Should people lose their right to vote when convicted of a felony?

Note: a felony is a major crime.

Different states have different laws regarding what rights convicted criminals lose. These rights include the right to vote, to serve on juries, and to run for political office.

Please read the article below and answer, "Should people lose their right to vote when convicted of a felony?"

Reminder: your answer should include a connection that helps the reader understand your position.

McDonnell restores rights to 506 eligible felons
Olympia Meola, Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 17, 2010
Richmond, Va. --
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has granted restored rights 506 of the 574 convicted criminals who applied for restoration.
This is the first update since the governor announced a deadline to act on applications and a review process that he said would be faster and more efficient.
Restoration of civil rights enables convicted criminals to vote, serve on juries and to run for public office.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Janet Polarek yesterday shared the results of 1,080 applications that the administration has reviewed since it announced the new process May 20.
Of that pool, 574 applications were eligible, complete and waiting for a decision.
A nonviolent felon must wait two years after completing his or her sentence before applying; it's five years for a violent felon.
The governor denied 22 of the two-year applicants and 46 of the five-year applicants.
"We are very pleased that we have been able to stick with the new system," Polarek said. "It's working, we met the deadline and we're turning around these applications in a really fair and fast way."
The new process had a rough birth. The administration in April considered a change that would require nonviolent felons to submit with their application a letter explaining the circumstances of their arrest and conviction, subsequent strides in education or community service and why the restoration is justified.
The proposed process drew criticism from civil-rights groups -- who likened the letters to literacy tests that once prevented the uneducated from voting.
The administration killed the letter idea and instead added an optional item on the application, where felons seeking restoration of their rights can describe any community service or comparable service they want to bring to the governor's attention.
Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, was among the critics of the administration's early proposal. He said yesterday that at this rate, McDonnell, a Republican, is on course to meet and maybe surpass his two predecessors, both Democrats.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine restored the rights of more than 4,300 felons during his term. Gov. Mark R. Warner restored rights to 3,486.
Still, Willis adds, at this pace, the results are still coming too slow, considering there are more than 300,000 people who can't vote because of a felony record. Willis prefers an automatic restoration of civil rights. Virginia and Kentucky are the only states that leave the restoration approval solely with the governor.
"If Governor McDonnell restores voting rights to [4,000] or 5,000 individuals during his four-year term, that will be commendable" he said. "But it's still a drop in the bucket, leaving about 98 percent of Virginia's disenfranchised persons unable to vote."

Limitations on Freedom

All of us have some of our freedoms taken away because our social contract says some greater goal is achieved by limiting those freedoms.

• Children are robbed of their freedom to spend their time however they want because adults think we will have a better society if people are educated.


• Adults do not have the freedom to spend their money how they want because our social contract says that everyone needs to pay taxes to contribute to things like roads, police, and schools.


• None of us have the freedom to walk around in public without clothing because our social contract says that public nudity is offensive and disturbs the peace.

What freedoms are taken away from you? What is the reason or purpose for limiting your freedom? Do you think it is fair and appropriate that our rights and freedoms are limited in these ways? Would you suggest any changes? Refer to your rubric, or the one posted on the previous blogs, for full credit. Please remember to use 8 complete sentences (and spelling and grammar count).

Should a child ever have the right to divorce a parent?

First, please closely examine the rubric for our blog, especially the last bullet in each category regarding making connections.

Not Even Close (no credit)

• Is not even four full sentences


• Does not coherently answer the question or address the blog topic


• Almost totally lacking in either fact or opinion


• Looks like an AIM message, not formal school writing, errors in grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling


• Does not make a connection

Solid Blog Contribution(7/10 points)

• Is at least four full sentences


• Addresses the blog topic thoughtfully and coherently (the comment makes sense and can be followed)


• Some fact and some opinion but lacking a bit in one or the other


• Is written formally, with correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage, with only one or two errors


• Attempts to make a connection by identifying a person, place, or situation that could inform the blog topic, but does not explain the relationship

Very Strong Blog Contribution(10/10 points)

• Is at least eight sentences long


• Addresses the blog topic very thoughtfully and coherently


• Uses an appropriate amount and balance of facts and opinion (evidence and insight)


• Is written formally with correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage, with no errors


• Makes a connection by identifying a person, place, or situation that could inform the blog topic and explains the relationship; may compare or contrast the two

Then, with the rubric in mind, answer the following question: should a child ever have the right to divorce a parent? In other words, should a child ever be able to choose to legally separate from one or both of his or her parents?

“You have won your revolution”

President Obama stated the above words to the people of Libya upon the demise of their former ruler Muammar Gaddafi. The people of America may very well have once heard these lines from someone. Read the following articles. As we see the following countries beginning their journey to democracy, re-evaluate what democracy really means to you. Be sure to use connections from class and include advice for those now following in our footsteps. Follow your Blog Rubric to get full credit.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2097451,00.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/23/world/africa/libya-main/index.html?eref=time_world
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097554,00.html

Columbus: Hero or villian?

Based on your analyses of primary and secondary sources, answer the following question. Should we honor Columbus and celebrate "Columbus Day" or should we rename the holiday, perhaps "Native American Day"?