nualle
Member
The footnote: The 13th Amendment.lendringser protested:The Bill of Rights has no footnote that says "...except for persons convicted of a felony". If your copy of the Constitution has one, I'd like to see it.
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Felony is defined in the U.S., in part, as a crime the conviction for which carries a limited form of life-long involuntary servitude. The form of that servitude includes loss of the rights of a citizen, including voting and having/carrying guns.
My own opinions about felons and the legal system aside, this seems to me to sum up the constitutionality argument.
Good point, Mike Irwin, about the constitution. It's not holy writ and the framers were far from divine. It's not helpful that it's so reverently treated.