Posted on 04/18/2018 5:01:45 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) will be granting all convicted felons in the state who are on parole a pardon, a move that will restore voting rights to more than 35,000 people.
The pardons would allow Cuomo to work around the state legislature, which has not approved any such measure on criminal justice reform, the New York Times reports.
Under current New York law, convicted felons may only vote again after they have completed their parole or are on probation.
The executive order excludes parolees with certain firearms offenses.
"The pardons following this executive order and all future restorations of voting rights, shall not include rights with respect to the receipt, transportation or possession of firearms as provided by New York Penal Law Section 400," the order states.
Cuomo made the announcement on Wednesday to Al Sharpton's National Action Network's annual convention in New York City.
"I’m unwilling to take no for an answer," Cuomo said. "I’m going to make it law by executive order."
"With active intervention, we can bend the arc toward justice," Cuomo said.
In addition to those 35,000 Cuomo will pardon, he plans to issue a pardon to each month's convicted felons as they go on parole. The Times reports:
Alphonso David, the governor’s counsel, said Mr. Cuomo would issue an executive order requiring the commissioner of the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to submit a list of every felon currently on parole, as well as a list of those newly eligible for parole, beginning May 1. The commissioner would continue to submit an updated list each month, with each parolee "given the consideration of a pardon that will restore voting rights without undue delay," according to a draft of the executive order.
Anyone on the list would be eligible for a pardon, Mr. David said, so long as law enforcement had not flagged any special concerns.
The pardon would not expunge a felon’s record nor would it restore other rights stripped from them, such as the right to serve on a jury. Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, called the executive order a "narrow use of power."
Cuomo is in a tense reelection bid against actress and political activist Cynthia Nixon, who has made criminal justice reform a key part of her campaign.
Meanwhile, NYS’s AG is getting his shorts in a bunch about Trump’s pardoning power...
SNORT.
Bribery?
He knows 35,000 felons won’t make a difference in any NY vote. He’s trying to start a trend for states where it will.
Remember that Terry McAuliffe pardoned so many that he had to use an autopen to sign the documents in VA.
Democrats are going all out stupid to win.
Felons.
The qui tesse tial Democrat voters.
People will die. This guy should be tried and executed. I hope he burns in hell.
“35,000-Plus Felons”
—
Or, to put it another way, one small-sized Democrat city.
Why have a Parole Board if the Governor can simply sign an order that cancels the remaining time left for a parolee or probationer?
Better the enemy at your front than the backstabbers behind you.
Vote For Me ,I Set You Free
Yes.
They won't be happy until our republic goes full banana.
A Blanket Pardon ,will there be refreshments ,LOL
Fine. Get rid of Motor Voter.
So much of the really stupid stuff the dems are doing everywhere gets reported by their comrades, the lame stream media that not a lot of people notice it...
Ammunition for conservatives during the midterm election campaigns....
Absolutely.
YEP, it’s OK for a governor to pardon BUT NOT the DAMNED POTUS, these idiots ARE truly OUT OF THEIR DAMNED MINDS!!!! I am very afraid for this country these lawbreaking IDIOTS have infiltrated EVERY step of our education system right down to kindergarten, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, sometimes I just DONT SEE how we will EVER be able to reverse the damage that’s been done!!!!
DOESN’T get reported....
The Rats constituency.
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