A step towards a civilised society : parents should have the right to vote even if they are prisoners

On May 22nd, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights made a ruling that prisoners in the United Kingdom should have the right to vote in local and general elections. It has given the United Kingdom government 6 months in which to implement the ruling. The court's judgment does allow government ministers to determine which categories of prisoners should be disenfranchised.

Setting aside any feelings there may be about international courts influencing legislation in the United Kingdom, the judgment in our view is one for the good. This website is concerned with the nurturing and parenting of children. Many prisoners are Mums and Dads and continue to care about their children even when they are incarcerated and many prisoners who are parents try very hard, in difficult cicumstances, to keep in touch with their children through correspondence, prison visits and through a number excellent initiatives like for instance, Storybook Dads.

Prisoners who are parents should retain the right to vote, not only as part of their preparation for rehabilitation to the world outside of prison but also so that they are encouraged to sustain their interest in, and their attachment to, their children through the ballot box. They should be allowed to vote for political representatives who they believe will support new legislation which relates to the lives of their children and their partners living outside the prison walls.

It should go without saying that we sympathise with and support those who have been the victims of a prisoner's crime, including their relatives and friends. A prison sentence can never make the crime that has been committed any less wrong, but it is the method we use as a community - rightly or wrongly - to punish prisoners for certain crimes. They are required to give up periods of their lives in order to make recompense for their crimes. Convicted criminals are taken away from our community and lose their freedom. For the majority of their living hours they are locked up in a cell. They lose the right to see their loved ones except on rare, supervised and time limited occasions. Surely this is punishment enough and prison sentences, if they are to be in the least effective must be proactively rehabilitative. While there may be particular instances which make it neither possible nor safe prisoners should feel when they leave prison that they will be accepted back in their home communities and that they will be supported to the extent that they feel they a stand a fair chance of a loving and purposeful future with their children and partners.

It is a sad state of affairs that many of our political leaders, including the United Kingdom prime minister are so set against the European court's judgement. The enfranchisement of prisoners is a symbol of an inclusive community determined to ensure that those who are punished by having their freedom taken away should not feel utterly abandoned but can trust they still have a worth for their families and for our community. Giving prisoners a vote is a step towards achieving a civilised society.

This opinion article was first published online at goodenoughcaring.com