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.
Where does it say in th CONSTITUTION or THE BORs that Felons could not VOTE..Voter disenfranchisement for felons has been around since the ancient Greek and Roman times. The English colonists brought the idea to America. Crimes against individuals and society resulted in “civil death,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This included loss of property and prohibition from entering into contracts. Restoring voting rights to felons became an issue in the last half of the 20th century.
VOTE NOW: Should Convicted Felons Be Allowed to Vote?
2. State laws vary, but many states allow ex-felons to vote only after they have proven themselves to become productive members of society. This may require a five to seven year time period. Public safety and incentives for ex-felons need to be considered when restoring those rights, according to Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
3. For centuries, crimes committed against individuals could also be interpreted as crimes against society, according to lawmakers in different countries. Convicted felons showed they couldn’t be trusted with certain rights. Ex-felons revealed that they violated those rights when they first committed crimes against people and society.
4. Ex-felons can’t vote in certain circumstances because of confusion and miscommunication among state agencies. Sometimes ex-felons are allowed to vote but don’t know it due to the complexities of laws in various states. No where in the CONSTITUTION OR THE bORS, does it say Felons can not vote.... come back..
Totally agree.
True.
Issue a temporary stay of execution, and remand with instructions to review each case individually. Governor, next Tuesday we will hold a hearing to review the pardon process and documentation for Case #1. Once resolved we will take up case #2, etc. until we have reviewed all 13,000 case. For each case you must be available to the attorneys for questioning.
>> Voting rights for ex-felons should be lawfully restored.
Not sure if you’re quoting or that’s your opinion, but as far as I’m concerned, if one is not entitled to his full Constitutional liberties, he must not be released from incarceration.
Exactly. That’s my opinion. If the felon has served their time, return all of the rights to the citizen.
Somebody DOES need to ask Terri why he isn’t restoring their 2d Amendment rights. If he is that gung-ho on seeing their rights “restored” he needs to have them able to buy firearms too. Or at least explain WHY they cannot.
VIRGINIA: 13 ELECTORAL VOTES FOR HILLARY CLINTON
Sounds like a violation of the law by McOffal.
A new poll came out this morning that said the bitch from hell is up 16 points on Trump in Virginia. If Clinton ends up carrying Virginia because of the northern transplants in Northern Virginia, northerner MacAwful pardoning criminals to vote for her and Northerner Kaine on the bottom of the ticket Virginia has officially became a democRAT stronghold. And that’s a shame. Another reliable conservative state dominated by RATS in one corner of the state and they determine politics for the other 75% of the state.
Hmmm. Now Virginia voters know how Illinois voters feel. Take out Chicago voters, and Illinois is a GOP friendly state that voted for Bush twice. Doesn't feel too good when the citizens in the other 75% of the state are blamed for the leftists in one corner of the state who continually override their wishes, does it?
Virginia has been solidly "RED" lately, that's true. If you like communism, you'll love the policies of VA politicians like McAwful, Tim "the eyebrow" Kaine, Jim Webb, and Mark Warner.
Exact same thing where I live, Washington State. The Seattle area, dominated by rabid leftist democrats control the politics for the rest of the state, which is reliably conservative, especially Eastern Washington where I call home.
Virginia needs to excise the CommieDem RED holes of Richmond and NoVA.
Obama’s America.
Isn’t it great?
Well, not great for you.... :)
There are a lot of very powerful people who will be going to jail for a long, long time once Mr Trump is President.
The establishment of this country is riddled with people who are simply evil.
I don’t understand why felons who have served their time in jail and are no longer on parole, should not be allowed to vote.
It seems to me the legislature should address this issue and then it is no longer a wedge issue for Democrats.
This seems like a no-brainer.
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