From: Michael Lorrey (mike@datamann.com)
Date: Mon Feb 05 2001 - 11:11:33 MST
Samantha Atkins wrote:
>
> A "felon" is simply and only a person convicted of breaking certain
> laws, irrational or not, that the government has decided to call
> felonies, irrational or not. The *felon* is first and foremost a
> person. The argument that a felon is a "non-citizen" and therefore
> different rules apply is extremely dangerous. If rights came only from
> being a "citizen" then the argument might makes sense.
That is why I said 'non-citizen' versus 'non-person'. Non-citizens here
in the US are restricted in many areas: they cannot carry concealed
weapons or own guns (because as non-citizens, they are not part of or
eligible to belong to the 'militia', organized or unorganized, which is
made up of all voter-eligible citizens).
A felon is in a state of what is called 'civil disability', meaning that
due to their criminal convictions, they are disabled from belonging to
the militia, and from engaging in many other activities which are the
natural right of people, especially those who are citizens. A felon can
regain the right to vote and keep and bear arms by petitioning the court
for 'relief from civil disability' after three years of good behavior
following the conclusion of their sentence (which includes probation
time).
You are right to be concerned about 'slippery slopes' if government
decides to make a large percent of the population into felons, however,
as I've said before, people tend to get the government they deserve. If
enough people wanted that sort of government, they are going to get it
whether they like the results or not. This occured in both Germany and
Italy, where the concept of natural rights was non-existent. Here, at
least, the logic is that government can only suspend one's rights for
demonstrating an inability to use them responsibly, it cannot
permanently confiscate them because they don't belong to or originate
from the government. This doesn't mean that such abuses are impossible,
they just take longer and require a slower rate of erosion.
I hope this explains my position better.
http://www.egroups.com/groups/exi-freedom/itsaboutthetrust.htm
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