Should a conviction still be allowed to hold ex-felons back?

[Kevin]

Again, (shocker) I am going to take the minority position here, which is more than likely the majority position outside of GC.

Felons are felons for a reason. They did something bad and are branded as felons--something which is a part of their paying a debt to society.

As for voting, I have no problem discriminating against felons. By committing a felony, they forfeit their right to participate fully in it. They get no sympathy from me. How not being able to vote holds them back as some have suggested is an interesting concept. How does that hold them back? By creating a sub-class which doesn't have to be pandered to by politicians? Do you want your politicians pandering to felons? Not me.

As far as hiring practices go, every employer who places an employee into a situation where trust is a factor has a strong interest in knowing that individual's background. To that end, that employer needs to be able to know whether it's hiring former felons. Felons are more likely to steal and get an employer sued, so a smart employer absolutely will discriminate here. It's a matter of self-preservation. For a small business, if you hire a known violent felon who then assaults and injures a customer, that could very easily mean bankruptcy.

And for every felon who is discriminated against, a non-felon gets that job--someone who hasn't strayed from the straight and narrow, or at least hasn't been caught.