I’m with Bernie solidly on this issue. One cannot consider anything a “right” if that thing can be taken from them by the system or politicians that represent that system. Protecting the right of those least deserving is the only sure way we have of protecting it for ourselves.

It is also difficult to look at any demographic representation of our prison populations and argue that some element of political disenfranchisement didn’t contribute to those prisoners being there. This opens the potential for incarceration as a political tool, which it obviously is already.

As we start to realize the many mistakes of the Patriot Act and similar legislation that was knee jerked into law after 9/11 it becomes apparent, especially with the current administration, that the selective imprisonment of political rivals is not beyond their thoughts, and anything considered is possible in a political climate of division such as we are now experiencing.