Denied a voting voice, forever?

I came across an article while browsing around, as we all do :)
and started asking myself some question. I was wondering why any ex-offenders,
would be denied the right to vote, some permanently. Here's the address to the article
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0226-05.htm

Why would this country allow the removal of such a basic right?
This is the trend in our society, and it is to keep those already in power, in power longer.
This is sad, and definitely is giving a shameful face to our democratic society. These people are forced to pay taxes but not allowed a voice in government and definitely is taxation without representation and is against the constitution. Sad, that this goes on. Our society is so tainted with hate and greed that it's judgement is clouded and no one cares because it doesn't affect them directly. Very Sad. Please give me some comments on this one.

Profiting from Sex Offenders ?

It seems to me that there are a lot of people profiting from sex offenders these days. Law enforcement, politicians, background checking agencies, and internet searches on sex offenders. Why are these people allowed to profit from this? If sex offenders are being scapegoated so badly and their lives ruined from all these unjust laws, then why are other people allowed to profit from it? Isn't that going to make this problem worse? By giving people a financial reward to make these offenders well known and hated, and allowing people to make money from it, especially those who make the laws, is only going to encite more people to be scrutinized so they can make more money? The next set of people that will be on a list of some sort (probably drunk drivers) will have a whole bunch more people making even more money. This is just wrong. Why should the states be given a financial incentive to put people on the registry? If this is truly about "protecting the children" then there SHOULD NOT be a financial reward for doing so. It should be done because it is the right thing to do. A lot of people are finally waking up to the fact that these laws are ineffective. I think there should be an investigation into these laws and into the people who are profiting from them. Profiting from someone else misfortune should be a felony. And yes, incarceration is a misfortune in anyone's life, even if it is well deserved. Thoughts?

where does it all end?

I am just sick and tired of all the BS. People are just screaming and waving pitchforks these days. I know that sex offenses are terrible crimes but punishing these people beyond their sentences? You have to ask yourself, "is this the right thing to do?" I have heard people quoting all kinds of recidivism rates for these offenders ranging from 98% to 5%. I guess I am just fed up with all the BS that I see going with it. I am sorry that some of these children (Megan Kanka, Jessica Lundsford etc.) were so horribly victimized but these are few and far between. I don't think that people realize what they are doing when it comes to sex offenders and they are just going about it the wrong way. The law is using these cases to further strip people of rights just for votes folks. If you can't see that then you are blind.
Don't get me wrong either, I am certainly not in favor of these criminals either. Banishing these individuals and screaming from rooftops that they are sex offenders does ABSOLUTELY nothing to solve the problem. When you have problem you find the source and fix it. Beating on it afterwards does no good to anyone. Oh, sure it might make you feel all warm and fuzzy for awhile but it doesn't solve the issue. So as far as I'm concerned these laws are absolutely intended to punish and should be removed. Labeling of ANY group of people is discrimination no matter how you look at it. Politicians are justifying these laws by saying that it is for the protection of the children. This is far from the truth. They are justifying these laws to stay elected and keep sucking money out of the govt and the public to uphold these laws. Did you know that the govt gives money to the states to maintain the registries on a per registrant basis? That means the more people on it, the more money they get. This is wrong. Common sense needs to prevail here and there seems to be less and less of this these days. Does forcing people away and telling them where they can live uphold our constitutional rights? I think not. Does something need to be done, yes. I think a big problem with the sex offender laws is that they don't take into consideration the collateral consequences of these laws. Let me give you an example. If a person has only one offense and is trying to put their life back together and have a meaningful contribution to society and has a family of their own. These laws punish the whole family, not the offender. So let's think about this for a moment. Let's say that 85% of offenders have families, probably not an unreasonable number, and each family has two kids. Ok, now we are passing laws in most states that will affect 3 times as many innocent people than the number of offenders, and some of those innocent people are victims. Now the laws are essentially hurting innocent victims in the name of justice and protecting the children, is this the way to do it? I don't think so. I'm not saying these people should be off the hook either, they were sentenced and did their time. I think we are going to see a lot of repercussions from these bad laws. Also, keep in mind that these laws were based only on, the few and far between, worst of the worst crimes. And one last thing on this, those high profile cases were touted as sex offenses, but they were really murders. I would like to hear from people on this because I believe that most people don't have the facts and the facts that they do get are seriously flawed.
Does any of this make sense to you?