Prisoner voting in the United Kingdom: an empirical study of a contested prisoner right
Prisoner voting in the United Kingdom: an empirical study of a contested prisoner right
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英国的囚犯投票：对有争议的囚犯权利的实证研究
DOI：
10.1111/1468-2230.12778
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发表时间：
2022
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
G. Davies
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Robert Jones;G. Davies
囚犯的权利重要吗？本文通过对近几十年来最具争议的囚犯权利问题之一--囚犯投票--的社会法律研究来探讨这一问题。在英国，数千名囚犯在法律上有资格投票。根据对134名选举管理人员的调查，我们探讨了他们是否在行使这一权利，以及他们在参与选举方面面临的潜在障碍。我们发现，符合条件的囚犯的参与率极低。此外，我们发现囚犯投票权的管理存在问题，这些问题可能会阻止合资格的囚犯投票。根据这些调查结果，我们认为，剥夺囚犯公民权的规模可能比之前想象的更严重，并可能在未来受到法律挑战。囚犯投票的例子为囚犯权利的局限性提供了一个警示故事，既是衡量现有监狱条件的指标，也是改变监狱条件的工具。
Do prisoners’ rights matter? This paper examines this question through a social-legal study of one of the most controversial prisoners’ rights issues of recent decades: prisoner voting. Thousands of prisoners are legally eligible to vote in the United Kingdom. Drawing on a survey of 134 electoral administrators, we explore whether they are exercising that right and the potential barriers to electoral participation which they face. We find that participation among eligible prisoners is extremely low. Further, we identify problems in the administration of prisoner voting rights which may prevent eligible prisoners from voting. In light of these findings, we argue that the scale of prisoner disenfranchisement is likely to be graver than previously thought and open to future legal challenge. The prisoner voting example provides a cautionary tale of the limitations of prisoner rights, both as a measure of existing prison conditions and as tools for transforming them.