Ian S. Thompson – 2/14/06

This page was last updated on February 16, 2006.

Let parolees keep vote; Ian S. Thompson; Beaver County Times; February 14, 2006.

As background, Mr. Thompson is/was a Penn State student whose fields of study are/were English and international politics. When he “signed” an anti-landmine “treaty” on the web, Mr. Thompson indicated he was a member of Amnesty International. If you’ve read Mr. Thompson’s letters since at least mid-2004, you know he’s a full-blown socialist who tends to resort to name-calling and unsupported talking points.

Mr. Thompson has been a busy writer lately. This is his fifth letter since January 1, 2006. If he isn’t careful, he’ll use up his 12-letter annual allotment before Easter.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“As the election season of 2006 begins to heat up, Republicans in the Legislature are engaging in a cynical campaign to deprive certain Pennsylvanians of one of the most basic and fundamental democratic rights: the right to vote.”

[RWC] You won’t find it mentioned anywhere in the letter, but “certain Pennsylvanians” refers to convicted felons. Make no mistake about it. If Mr. Thompson didn’t believe the vast majority of convicted felons would vote Democrat, he wouldn’t have written this letter. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be proud to admit most felons share my economic, political, and social beliefs.

“One such Republican-backed measure seeks to disenfranchise those who have been released from prison and are on parole or serving probation. The legislation does not stop there however. It also seeks to bar convicts from voting until the dates when their maximum sentences would expire, even if they had been released from the criminal justice system years earlier.”

[RWC] Though Mr. Thompson would like us to believe otherwise, there’s no difference between the first and third sentences in this paragraph. In fact, as of this date, Pennsylvania HB 1318 doesn’t even mention parole or probation. Section 705 reads, “Any person who is convicted of a felony offense in any court of this Commonwealth, or for a crime in any other state or Federal court that would constitute a felony offense under the laws of this Commonwealth, shall be ineligible to vote in any election conducted in this Commonwealth and shall be ineligible to register or maintain registration as a registered elector for a period beginning with the date of conviction and ending with the expiration of the maximum sentence imposed in that criminal proceeding.”

The last sentence in the paragraph is misleading. Being on parole or probation is not the same as being “released from the criminal justice system.” You’re still in the “criminal justice system” as long as you are on parole/probation. Mr. Thompson wants us to believe felons leave the “criminal justice system” when they are paroled.

Here’s the bottom line you won’t hear from folks like Mr. Thompson. HB 1318 simply withholds voting rights from convicted felons for the duration of their sentence. Mr. Thompson would like us to believe a felon’s sentence is over if he receives parole; it isn’t.

“This is a disgraceful piece of legislation and it is a shame that more than 40 years after the crowning point of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act, was signed into law that some politicians still see fit to attempt to erect barriers to this most basic of American rights and the foundation of our democracy.”

[RWC] The “40 years since the Voting Rights Act” appears to be a distributed talking point. I saw a group use this on PCN TV and saw it mentioned in an op-ed piece.

“Make no mistake about it: this move is targeted directly at African Americans. Republicans want to do everything they can to keep turnout low among this group of citizens, even going so far as to disenfranchise an entire class of people. There is absolutely no reason that a person who has been released from prison should be denied the right to vote.”

[RWC] For liberals, when all else fails try to make it a race issue.

Let’s look at the group Mr. Thompson so ardently defends. According to a 2002 study, 67% of state prisoners end up back in prison within three years. Over 40% of parolees violate parole. Remember, the charged murderer of State Police Cpl. Joseph Pokorny was on parole.

“Disenfranchise an entire class of people?” Black felons are “an entire class of people?” As of 2004, this “class” in Pennsylvania was about 21,000. The number drops further when you consider that 15%-20% of eligible non-criminal voters never register and a high turnout is only 60% of registered voters. The white portion of the prison population was about 15,000.

Here’s a “Portrait of an Inmate” from 2004 according to the PA Department of Corrections:

· 30% committed a drug-related crime

· 20% had some degree of mental illness

· 51% were reading below the 8^th grade level

· 40% report not having a high school diploma or GED

· 84% were unemployed for 6 months before incarceration

· 64% were alcohol or drug dependent

For all of Mr. Thompson’s blather, does this look like the portrait of a voter?

“All Pennsylvanians who care about fairness have an obligation to speak out against this election-year stunt. Unpopularity at the polls is not a justified reason to strip others of the essence of citizenship.”

[RWC] Whose “unpopularity at the polls?” Republicans have been gaining ground in both state and federal elections.

Let’s recap. As a true liberal, Mr. Thompson wants us to believe convicted felons still serving their sentences – 67% of whom are repeat offenders and 40%+ of whom violate their parole – are the real victims. Amazing!

In Mr. Thompson’s last four letters, he rode to the defense of terrorists and convicted felons. The more liberals write, the more they make my case.