Votes for Felons

GOV. Paul Cellucci discovered a couple of years ago that a group of Massachusetts prison inmates were organizing a political-action committee. Cellucci moved immediately to quash the group. He issued an executive order and then went a step further, filing a state constitutional amendment to deny inmates the vote. Massachusetts is expected to join 47 other states soon in an outright ban on prisoner voting.

Liberals gnashed their teeth over Cellucci’s move. It “sends the wrong message,” said an ACLU lawyer to the Boston Globe, as if letting a bunch of felons lobby the legislature and mail checks to candidates sent a really positive message to society. A key leader of the Massachusetts Prisoners Association was a convicted murderer.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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GOV. Paul Cellucci discovered a couple of years ago that a group of Massachusetts prison inmates were organizing a political-action committee. Cellucci moved immediately to quash the group. He issued an executive order and then went a step further, filing a state constitutional amendment to deny inmates the vote. Massachusetts is expected to join 47 other states soon in an outright ban on prisoner voting.

Liberals gnashed their teeth over Cellucci’s move. It “sends the wrong message,” said an ACLU lawyer to the Boston Globe, as if letting a bunch of felons lobby the legislature and mail checks to candidates sent a really positive message to society. A key leader of the Massachusetts Prisoners Association was a convicted murderer.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.