Former Boston Police Superintendent Daniel Linskey said the surviving Boston Marathon bomber should not have the right to vote in federal elections.
“When I first heard it, my initial thought was to send something on Twitter that would have been sent in anger. And I waited and calmly thought about it. And the anger comes from the fact that we’re talking about the Tsarnaevs,” he said on “America’s Newsroom” Thursday.
“We shouldn’t talk about them. Every time we do, we re-injure victims in our community and their families. If you do something that society has determined requires you to be taken away from society, and put into custody because of the nature of your actions, you forfeit the right to vote.”
Linskey was responding to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont after he came out for the right to vote for felons at a CNN town hall Monday.
“I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy, yes, even for terrible people, because once you start chipping away … you’re running down a slippery slope,” Sanders said.
Linskey claimed the Boston Bomber is an extreme example because he’ll never return to society, and said certain reformed felons should retain the right to vote.
“Now, there’s got to be a punitive side of our system, and there’s got to be a redemptive side of our system. Once you’ve served your sentence and you come back out into the society, then you should be involved in all the ability to be part of a community and to see a second chance after you’ve paid your dues. That being said, Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death. He will not return to our society.”
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