In your experience, are convicted felons bad people?

[Paradoxical]

I realize that's a fairly broad question and that there are some segments of the community that are more likely to be dangerous or mean than others.

But I'm trying to get a general understanding of feelings towards felons.

Feel free to specify your classifications. Especially if they are based on the nature of the crimes committed.

[JVS]

1. No worse than felons who manage to get acquitted or who aren't prosecuted in the first place.

[Paradoxical]

2. I guess I'm asking relative to the general population.

[Lucian]

3. Some felons get a bad rap.

My uncle hasn't done anything wrong in 25 years and he's still not allowed to vote. He's held a steady job for that long and has a family. He made stupid mistakes when he was younger and now he can't vote, run for office, or even live in some apartment complexes because of his felon record. I think that felons who have a clean record for ten years or more should be allowed to get their privileges back.

[Paradoxical]

4. My stepfather was convicted of trafficking.

He just now got his right to vote reinstated. He still cannot own a firearm.

He's been a clean member of society for 20 years.

[BzaDem]

5. I don't think it is possible to generalize. There are obviously widely varying amounts of

culpability, types of crimes, etc.

[Egnever]

6. Depends

[eridani]

7. The general population has about 2% sociopaths

Felons probably higher, but probably not more than 10-15%. Especially when you consider that get caught with marijuana is a felony.

[barbtries]

8. of course,

some non felons are bad people. point?

[Hannah Bell]

9. i believe the biggest single group of felons is in for something related to drugs, mid-level or

lower.

so i'd say it depends on what you mean by "bad people".

just saw a flick called "our drug war, the life & death of a dealer".

two felons profiled, neither seemed to be a particularly "bad" person, rather the opposite. they seemed to be people who were fairly decent, & who deserved better lives than they'd been dealt.

[MrDiaz]

10. Sure

Some felons are bad, and some are good. Just like some law-abiding citizens are bad, and some are good.

[6000eliot]

11. What does "felon" mean when applied to a person?

Is it an identity? I thought a felony is something you do rather than something you are.