>> I've just heard that some war protesters around the country have been
>> charged with felonies. Has anyone else heard this?
>>
>> Of course, this would be a critical mistake, as a felony conviction can
>> take away the right to vote in many states.
>
>What _are_ you talking about. Whose mistake? What in the world does the
>right to vote have to do with protest politics?
>
>Carrol
Or, looked at another way, if a significant number of radicals get their right to vote suspended for protesting, they might focus some energy on abolishing these 21st century jim crow laws that keep people (mostly men of color) from using the franchise. I suspect if people are charged with felonies, most will be induced to plead to misdemeanors, which is probably one of the reasons they were charged with a felony to begin with, to make the plea look like *such a great deal.* Prosecutors aren't so great at securing felony convictions against protesters anyway.
Steven:
>The "felony tool" was used
>to disenfranchise approximately 80K voters during the 2000 elections in
>Florida.
Yes, but hardly any of those purged had actually been convicted of a felony. So while it's true that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, you can't really say these folks shouldn't have gotten themselves arrested or convicted, since they weren't.
Jenny Brown