Posted on 08/22/2016 1:42:03 PM PDT by drewh
A defiant Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Monday that he again restored the voting rights of about 13,000 felons who served their time after his previous attempt was thwarted by Republican lawmakers and the state Supreme Court.
Virginia's highest court ruled in July that governors cannot restore rights en masse, but must consider each offender on a case-by-case basis. That ruling invalidated a sweeping executive order issued by McAuliffe in April that had given back the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons who completed their sentences.
McAuliffe blasted the court Monday for ignoring the "the clear text of the Constitution" and accused Republicans of trying to suppress voters' voices. But he pledged to move forward, saying he won't let the felon disenfranchisement "destroy lives and families, and destabilize communities."
"These individuals are gainfully employed. They send their children and their grandchildren to our schools. They shop in our grocery stores and they pay taxes. And I am not content to condemn them for eternity as inferior second-class citizens," McAuliffe said during an event at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial.
Rights-restoration letters were mailed Friday to the roughly 13,000 people who had registered to vote before their rights were taken away by the court, McAuliffe said. His administration processed each felon's paperwork individually to comply with the ruling, he said.
Moving forward, McAuliffe will individually restore the rights of other felons who meet the requirements, giving priority to those who request it, he said. The orders also allow the felons to serve on a jury, run for public office and become a notary public.
A voter-registration application will be included in each of the rights-restoration letters sent to felons, McAuliffe said. The deadline to register to vote in Virginia for November's election is Oct. 17.
The Virginia Supreme Court's 4-3 decision striking down his executive order was a significant blow to McAuliffe, who called felon disenfranchisement a vestige of the state's Jim Crow past because it disproportionately impacts African-Americans.
Republicans have accused McAuliffe of trying to add more Democrats to the voter rolls to aid presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in November, but McAuliffe maintains his motivations weren't political. The administration recently released the names and addresses of the 13,000 who had registered, and most of them live in urban areas that typically vote Democratic.
GOP House Speaker William Howell, who sued McAuliffe over the order, said lawmakers will carefully review the process McAuliffe laid out Monday to ensure it meets the requirements set by the court.
"From the beginning, we have done nothing more than hold the governor accountable to the constitution and the rule of law. The Supreme Court's decision vindicated our efforts and we will continue to fulfill our role as a check on the excesses of executive power," Howell said in a statement.
Kenneth Williams, whose voter registration was canceled after the court ruling, said he looks forward to getting his letter saying his rights have once again been restored. The 67-year-old, who served 10 years on a robbery charge and now runs a prisoner re-entry program, said he's eager to not only vote himself, but help to register others whose rights were once stripped away.
"I made a promise to myself that I'm going to assist everyone I can to register to vote ... so they can have a voice," he said.
McAwful went up against very conservative AG Ken Cuccinelli, who was ahead in the polls. You are right, that election smelled to high heaven.
Nevertrumper purists are also responsible here. Every nose-in-the-air noise made about oh, how glorious perfectly righteous _I_ would _NEVER, EVER_ vote for such a heterodox character as Donald, is like a virus waiting to be caught.
I would have to wonder how anybody voted for anyone in days of yore. Did all candidates look like a Daniel or a Virgin Mary until some date decades in the past?
Nothing establishes what “sufficient review” would be. And it is not for the courts to fill that hole. Only the legislature can.
Wanna bet the individual applications will already be filled out and just need a signature? That would be SO handy.
Anything that is petition driven could count under the broad Virginia law, as simply submitting the petition (he cared enough to ask) could be deemed sufficient cause.
We don’t want courts trying to fill holes here in what is a legislative responsibility question. That will take what might be a bad situation and make it worse.
No, he couldn’t do a blanket restoration of their rights. He had to sign each one individually.
Shall not be infringed means exactly what it means.
Taking away gun rights of any American citizen is against the constitution, I don’t care what anyone says.
Why should felons that served their sentence and are working, doing what they gotta do not have rights?
This is America, right?
When is someone in authority going to stop these crooks, these people who are destroying our country and our Constitution??
Hey, I know, let them be police officers or NSA operatives.
What could go wrong?
Hey, I know, let them be police officers or NSA operatives.
What could go wrong?
Unfortunately you thought wrong! All the libs have moved from MD to VA to save on taxes. Then the libs figured out that if they wait until all the conservative districts report their vote totals they can manufacture enough votes to overcome them. How do you think McAuliffe got elected in the first place?
Wants to be an emperor just like Obamugabe.
Having paid their debt to society, how can you justify denying constitutional rights?
Yes, shouldn’t they have gun rights, too? This is America!
Shall not be infringed. That’s pretty clear.
regrettably....The Mason-Dixon line has moved further south to the Charlottesville,VA area.........We Virginians refer to it as the 2nd Northern invasion....the 1st being the Civil War.
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