A prisoner voting ban shows again how few checks there are on Parliamentary power

[dken31]

You are not seeing that without the ability to redeem ones self there is no reason to try to get better, that is one of the strengths of Christianity.

Going to prison is an immediate punishment for committing a crime but not taking away all rights, if that is done ie removing voting rights is another signal to the prisoner that they have become or starting to become irredeemable, you are not trying to squelch prisoners into the ground you are trying to succinctly punish and then encourage redemption and eventual integration back into society, surely this is elementary thinking and obvious to any thinking person?

New Zealand is a signatory to The Declaration of Human Rights which is a Universal Document and should be abiding by it.  It is a document which envelopes all civilized countries who have signed it and NZ is one of them.  Taking away ones voting right is in itself a crime for any reason.  Trump is walking the thin edge of this right now.

Criminals are people just like you and me who have fallen by the wayside and need to be encouraged to get with the team again, not hated forever, there is no path to redemption if that is the case.

Read Universal Declaration of Human Rights

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal...man-rights

I had a quick read of the Declaration, and imprisonment breaches at least 7 or 7 of the 30 articles, which makes it clear that "it is a basic human right" isn't a logical defense of the position that it is wrong to deny prisoners the vote.  You're still free to argue (as protected by the Declaration  ) that it is a specific right that shouldn't be removed, despite so many others being removed, but that "it is a basic human right" isn't a valid argument.

Having said that, you did actually provide an additional argument for it not being removed, being your argument for the need for the hope of redemption.  And, I agree with you regarding that need.  A person with no hope for the future is someone with nothing to lose, and that is a dangerous person to have in society.  However, I disagree with you that not being allowed to vote while in jail removes any hope of redemption.  To the contrary, I think it actually provides motivation: do your time, reintegrate into society and you regain that right.  If voting rights were removed for life, I'd agree with you, however if they're only removed while actually in prison, then I don't see the problem.