Why prisoners should be given the right to vote

Why prisoners should be given the right to vote

Denying voting rights to criminals who receive a custodial sentence is dehumanising and hinders rehabilitation

Caspar Walsh
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 June 2012 13.30 BST

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that some prisoners in the UK should be given the right to vote. Photograph: Chris Young/PA

There are plenty of voters who believe that prisoners convicted of crimes and receiving a custodial sentence should not have the right to vote. They should be punished, voting rights removed, do their time, put up and shut up. 

However, many people think prison should be about rehabilitation; a place to create opportunities for healing and personal transformation otherwise absent in the often highly dysfunctional and damaged lives of many prisoners.