Posted on 07/17/2016 12:40:43 PM PDT by COBOL2Java
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Cheryl Fleming can’t wait to vote in November. The 54-year-old who lives in Fairfax County had her voting rights restored in April by Gov. Terry McAuliffe after losing them in 1989 for forging checks to buy drugs. She has never seen the inside of a polling booth.
“I was so excited I was screaming in the house,” Fleming said of hearing that she got her voting rights back. “I’ve put my life back together and this was still being held against me,” said Fleming, who now works as an Uber driver.
If Republican lawmakers are successful in their legal challenge to McAuliffe’s executive order, Fleming and more than 200,000 ex-felons who’ve completed their sentences could again be stripped of the ability to vote.
At issue when the Virginia Supreme Court meets Tuesday to hear the case is whether the state’s constitution allows governors to restore political rights en masse or requires them to be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Republicans say McAuliffe clearly violated the constitution, pointing to the words “person” and “his civil rights” in the document as evidence that governors can only “remove political disabilities” individually. That’s the conclusion reached by two previous administrations that studied the issue, Republicans note.
“Gov. McAuliffe is entitled to disagree with the policies of the Virginia Constitution, but he is not entitled to nullify those he dislikes,” attorneys for GOP House Speaker William Howell, Senate Majority Leader Thomas Norment and other voters write in their lawsuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
FELON? Yes. Yed, Then NO VOTE!!! PERIOD!!!!!
Should be forever.
If she is so interested in civic duty, she can pick up paper/trash off the streets, the beaches and in the parks.
My husband did that for quite a while. He hated to see parks and beaches look like pig sties.
While I understand where they’re coming from on this, I would MUCH rather have had them argue that the governor’s action constitute a pardon and all the felons now not only have voting rights restored, but gun ownership rights as well.
It would be much more illuminating to see liberals defend against that. Unfortunately, their current argument just seems petty - what, they’d be fine with it if the governor signed 200,000 pieces of paper?
I know of one person that this got registered to vote for Trump
Agreed! Actions have consequences.
Almost states already allow felons to vote after they have completed their sentences, though some have additional procedures to complete.
Sure, lets let such poor decision makers decide how our country is run and we are governed.
“Gov. McAuliffe is entitled to disagree with the policies of the Virginia Constitution, but he is not entitled to nullify those he dislikes,” attorneys for GOP House Speaker William Howell, Senate Majority Leader Thomas Norment and other voters write in their lawsuit.
Excellent point, legally speaking.
But McAuliffe is a good Democrat, and sees what his big boss, Obama, does at the federal level. So he is inspired to do the same at the state level, to just issue an executive order, whether he has legal authority to do so or not. And then dare the courts to try and stop him.
Obama is setting a standard for Democrats all the way down the line, in any public office, to act lawlessly, if doing so results in advancing some liberal agenda.
You’ve either served your time or you haven’t. I’m not crazy about denying God given rights to those who’ve completed their legal obligations.
Let's see. 54 years old means she was born in 1962 and she was 18 in 1980. 18 year olds had the vote before that. So from 1980 to 1989 she never voted. Must not have been very important to her for her to skip several elections.
Or maybe the 'reporter' is simply lying.
I'll take curtain # 2, Alex.
What's the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor ... all crime is crime, and when you've paid your price ... it's over and done with.
So too with guns.
The Rats are assuming that ex-felons will vote for Rats. I’m not so sure.
Laws are supposed to be written by the Legislative Branch. McAuliffe, like Obama, has decided to rewrite the law on his own. He's restoring blanket rights in violation of the law. If he wanted the law changed, don't you think the proper way would have been to get the Legislative Branch to change it?
Or do you think that's old fashioned?
“What’s the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor”
http://www.attorneys.com/felonies/the-difference-between-misdemeanors-and-felonies
Exactly! How can he selectively restore only a single Constitutional right? If a convicted felon can vote, why not buy a gun?
It is a state versus federal issue.
Felons will be allowed to vote, our corrupt courts will see to that.
Interesting. Can you give us the citation to the scripture which gives felons voting rights?
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