nytimes.com
Virginia Governor Restores Voting Rights to Felons
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and ERIK ECKHOLM

WASHINGTON — Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia used his executive power on Friday to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons, circumventing the Republican-run legislature. The action effectively overturns a Civil War-era provision in the state’s Constitution aimed, he said, at disenfranchising African-Americans.

The sweeping order, in a swing state that could play a role in deciding the November presidential election, will enable all felons who have served their prison time and finished parole or probation to register to vote. Most are African-Americans, a core constituency of Democrats, Mr. McAuliffe’s political party.

Amid intensifying national attention over harsh sentencing policies that have disproportionately affected African-Americans, governors and legislatures around the nation have been debating — and often fighting over — moves to restore voting rights for convicted felons. Virginia imposes especially harsh restrictions, barring felons from voting for life.

In Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin, a newly elected Republican, recently overturned an order enacted by his Democratic predecessor that was similar to the one Mr. McAuliffe signed Friday. In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, vetoed a measure to restore voting rights to convicted felons, but Democrats in the state legislature overrode him in February and an estimated 44,000 former prisoners who are on probation can now register to vote.

“There’s no question that we’ve had a horrible history in voting rights as relates to African-Americans — we should remedy it,” Mr. McAuliffe said in an interview Thursday, previewing the announcement he made on the steps of Virginia’s Capitol, just yards from where President Abraham Lincoln once addressed freed slaves. “We should do it as soon as we possibly can.”

Republicans in the Virginia Legislature have resisted measures to expand voting rights for convicted felons, and Mr. McAuliffe’s action, which he said was justified under an expansive legal interpretation of his executive clemency authority, provoked an immediate backlash. Virginia Republicans issued a statement Friday accusing the governor of “political opportunism” and “a transparent effort to win votes.”

“Those who have paid their debts to society should be allowed full participation in society,” said the statement from the party chairman, John Whitbeck. “But there are limits.” He said Mr. McAuliffe was wrong to issue a blanket restoration of rights, even to those who “committed heinous acts of violence.”

The order includes those convicted of violent crimes, including murder and rape. There is no way to know how many of the newly eligible voters in Virginia will register. “My message is going to be that I have now done my part,” Mr. McAuliffe said.

Nationally, an estimated 5.85 million Americans are denied the right to vote because of felony convictions, according to The Sentencing Project, a Washington research organizations, which says one in five African-Americans in Virginia cannot vote.

Only two states, Maine and Vermont, have no voting restrictions on felons; Virginia is among four – the others are Kentucky, Florida and Iowa – that have the harshest restrictions.

Friday’s shift in Virginia is part of a national trend toward restoring voter rights to felons, based in part on the hope that it will aid former prisoners’ re-entry into society. Over the last two decades about 20 states have acted to ease their restrictions, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

In Kentucky, Mr. Bevin, who took office in November, promptly overturned an executive order issued by his predecessor, Steven L. Beshear, just before he left office. Then, last week, Mr. Bevin signed into law a less expansive measure, allowing felons to petition judges to vacate their convictions, which would enable them to vote.

Previous governors in Florida and Iowa took executive action to ease their lifetime bans, but in each case, a subsequent governor restored the tough rules.

Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, said Mr. McAuliffe’s decision would have lasting consequences because it will remain in effect at least until January 2018, when the governor leaves office.

“This will be the single most significant action on disenfranchisement that we’ve ever seen from a governor,” Mr. Mauer said, “and it’s noteworthy that it’s coming in the middle of this term, not the day before he leaves office. So there may be some political heat but clearly he’s willing to take that on, which is quite admirable.”

Myrna Pérez, director of a voting rights project at the Brennan Center, said Mr. McAuliffe’s move was particularly important because Virginia has had such restrictive laws on voting by felons. Still, she said,“Compared to the rest of the country, this is a very middle of the road policy.’’

Ms. Pérez said a number of states already had less restrictive policies than the one announced by Mr. McAuliffe. Fourteen states allow felons to vote after their prison terms are completed even while they remain on parole or probation.

Advocates who have been working with the Virginia governor say they are planning to fan out into Richmond communities Friday to start registering people.

Experts say with the stroke of his pen, Mr. McAuliffe has allowed convicted felons to begin registering to vote, and that their voting rights cannot be revoked — even if a new governor rescinds the order for future released prisoners.

But the move led to accusations that the governor was playing politics; he is a longtime friend of — and fund-raiser for — Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee for president, and former President Bill Clinton.

In the interview, Mr. McAuliffe said that he was not acting for political reasons, and that few people outside his immediate staff knew of his plan. He said he did not consult with Mrs. Clinton or her campaign before making the decision.

The executive order builds on steps the governor had already taken to restore voting rights to 18,000 Virginians since the beginning of his term, and he said he believed his authority to issue the decision was “ironclad.”

Prof. A. E. Dick Howard of the University of Virginia School of Law, the principal draftsman of a revised Constitution adopted by Virginia in 1971, agreed, and said the governor had “ample authority.” But Professor Howard, who advised Mr. McAuliffe on the issue, said the move might well be challenged in court. The most likely argument, he said, is that the governor cannot restore voting rights to an entire class of people all at once.

Virginia’s Constitution has prohibited felons from voting since the Civil War; the restrictions were expanded in 1902, as part of a package that included poll taxes and literacy tests.

In researching the provisions, advisers to the governor turned up a 1906 report that quoted Carter Glass, a Virginia state senator, as saying they would “eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this State in less than five years, so that in no single county of the Commonwealth will there be the least concern felt for the complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government.”

Mr. McAuliffe, who took office in 2014 and campaigned to restore voting rights to felons, said that he viewed disenfranchisement as “a remnant of the poll tax” and that he had been “trying to figure out what more I can possibly do.”

The governor’s action Friday will not apply to felons released in the future; his aides say Mr. McAuliffe intends to issue similar orders on a monthly basis to cover people as they are released.

“People have served their time and done their probation,” Mr. McAuliffe said. “I want you back in society. I want you feeling good about yourself. I want you voting, getting a job, paying taxes.’’



http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/us/governor-terry-mcauliffe-virginia-voting-rights-convicted-felons.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2&referer=http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/politics/virginia-governor-restoring-voting-rights-to-felons/62981749/

What a Coincidence right before a General Election!

you can only guess what Party most of them will vote for!

I dunno if that will help or hurt. I still Remember Robert Downey Jr. and him coming from a Liberal family and himself being very liberal. After he got out of prison........

Downey has indicated that his time in prison changed his political point of view somewhat, saying, "I have a really interesting political point of view, and it's not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can't go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can't. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics ever since."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey_Jr.#Political_views

What a pandering little bltch lol.
Hey governor, is it about Black folks or felons? Are you saying black folks are nothing but felons? You sound racist


I actually have nothing against restoring certain rights to felons who have paid their entire debt to society....but don't be a twerp about it lol

BTW..."Disenfranchisement of African Americans"? Millions of black folks decide NOT to become a felon everyday, and are able to vote also.

Like letting Puerto Rico vote
* ... NO they are NOT a state & NO they do NOT pay taxes & of course all the dead people that suddenly showed up... to vote *

And then my whole country says.. " What!?, Who!? Obama!? " How did that that happen!?

If I was African American I would be insulted by this action and this politician's comments. To my knowledge even way back when,when this law was enacted there were all nationalities committing felons.

To my knowledge that is still happening today, as " all nationalities " are choosing not to commit felony acts.

Yeppers, politics at its finest.

A bit worried Dem's?

Reptilicans,
Sorry, but you only have yourselves to blame. Whites have voted for Trump. Now he's gonna turn on you and go independent!
You didn't get behind the Reptilican nom Cruz. Now you have ensured that Hillary will continue Obama -San's third term. BOOM we all lose.

Actually I personally cant stomach either party. My opinion ion is how I belive. This election is a joke to me.

Agreed Sitka. We gotta hang in there. Ciao bella..

-----------------
Attempted diversion?

Key words of topic:

Virginia
Democrats
Felons
Voting
Black/ African American Men

Since this is an intense subject area, I am as usual cautious about leaping to conclusions.

My first thought on reading of this, was "What? Why?" because I grew up with the understanding that some punishments are forever. This is a separate part of this. SHOULD people be permanently punished for all crimes of certain kinds? There are a lot of questions of both philosophical and practical import involved.

I would not myself assume that everyone so released would choose to vote Democrat out of a sense of being grateful. They might indeed do so, if the Republicans do as they did elsewhere, and declare that the moment they get back in, they'll rescind the pardons. Not great salesmanship thinking on the GOP side in that.

I don't like the idea of doing this as a make-up for racial mistreatment. I believe in doing things specifically to deal with what is true here and now. If the people who are in prison RIGHT NOW should be returned to full rights, I support it. I oppose giving something to the criminals of today, on the grounds that we should have been nicer to other people long ago.

i don't think free citizens should not be allowed to vote... i've always thought that was to strict of a law... if someone (citizens) is not actually in prison, they should have the right to vote, no matter what... even if they were dishonorably discharged as well...

“Those who have paid their debts to society should be allowed full participation in society,” said the statement from the party chairman, John Whitbeck.


I agree with this. period, stop.

Felons shouldn't be allowed to vote.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/virginia-republicans-challenge-restoration-felon-voting-rights-n566016/

nbcnews.com

Virginia Republicans to Challenge Restoration of Felon Voting Rights

NBC News
by Zachary Roth

Virginia Republicans said Monday they're planning to challenge Gov. Terry McAuliffe's recent executive order that restored the right to vote to more than 200,000 former felons in perhaps the most pivotal state in the presidential race.

GOP leaders in the state legislature announced that they've hired Charles Cooper, a former Justice Department official in the Reagan administration, to lead the effort. They said McAuliffe's order exceeded the governor's constitutional powers.
Image: BESTPIX - Voters In Super Tuesday States Cast Their Ballots

Poll worker Laura Villalba cuts a roll of stickers she will give to voters after they cast their ballots inside the Arlington County Fire Station 10 during Super Tuesday voting March 1, 2016 in Arlington, Virginia. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

"Governor McAuliffe's flagrant disregard for the Constitution of Virginia and the rule of law must not go unchecked," Senate Majority Leader Thomas Norment Jr. said in a statement. "We have retained Mr. Cooper to examine the legal options to remedy this Washington-style overreach by the executive branch."

RELATED: In Baltimore, ex-felons cherish newfound right to vote

Responding to the announcement, Brian Coy, a spokesman for McAuliffe, a Democrat, said: "The Governor is disappointed that Republicans would go to such lengths to continue locking people who have served their time out of their democracy. While Republicans may have found a Washington lawyer for their political lawsuit, they still have yet to articulate any specific constitutional objections to the Governor exercising a power that Article V Section 12 clearly grants him."

That appears to refer to the following language in the state's constitution: "The governor shall have power … to remove political disabilities consequent upon conviction for offenses committed prior or subsequent to the adoption of this Constitution."

A Republican lawsuit would be the second major legal fight over Virginia's election laws this year. Democrats are challenging the state's 2013 voter ID law.

McAuliffe's order, issued 10 days ago, restored voting rights to Virginians who have completed their sentences and any supervised probation or parole. It's estimated to re-enfranchise around 206,000 people. The move was perhaps the most significant step yet in a nationwide push to restore the right to vote for former felons.

Immediately, Republicans accused McAuliffe of doing a political favor for Hillary Clinton, a longtime ally. Virginia's 13 electoral votes are expected to be pivotal in the presidential election. And studies have shown former felons vote Democratic by a large margin.
Image: Terry McAuliffe

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe speaks during the official opening of the new I-95 Express Lanes, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014. Molly Riley / AP

In Monday's announcement, legislative leaders charged that McAuliffe's move was not just political but unconstitutional.

"His predecessors and previous attorneys general examined this issue and consistently concluded Virginia's governor does not have the power to issue blanket restorations," Norment said. "By doing so now with the acknowledged goal of affecting the November election, he has overstepped the bounds of his authority and the constitutional limits on executive powers."

That appeared to be a reference to a conclusion reached by Mark Rubin, a top lawyer for McAuliffe's predecessor as governor, Democrat Tim Kaine.

RELATED: Virginia governor enables 200,000 felons to vote in November

"A blanket order restoring the voting rights of everyone would be a rewrite of the law rather than a contemplated use of the executive clemency powers," Rubin wrote in 2010. "And, the notion that the Constitution of the Commonwealth could be rewritten via executive order is troubling."

Rubin didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Virginia's felon voting restrictions, like those of several other states, derives from its 1902 Constitutional Convention, which had the explicit purpose of disenfranchising African-Americans. The Constitution that emerged included a range of devices to limit black voting, including a poll tax, a literacy test, and a ban on voting by those convicted of a broad range of crimes. Asked by a journalist whether this amounted to discrimination, one of the convention's most influential members, Carter Glass, replied: "Discrimination! Why that is exactly what we propose. To remove every negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate."

Republicans said the planned challenge will be financed with political and private funds, not taxpayer dollars.

This article originally appeared on MSNBC.com

Ahh so it'll be wrapped up in court till way after the election? Kinda what I figured anyway....

Why did the pandering gov. stop at voting rights? Why not restore 2nd amendment rights also? Because that don't get votes

Felons, Illegals, Dead People, 15 year olds...
IMO: it is an 'illusion of everyone having rights & privileges'.

But the reality is... It NOW means NOTHING to be a good law abiding, adult tax payer.

What the hell is the insensitive to be?

In SOME I agree there are some felony's I strongly disagree..

For example..Should a convicted murderer be allowed to own a gun in my opinion No way in bloody hell..

i can't say i agree with that either... if a girl that was raped or killed, and her father kills the man that raped her, the father would be a convicted felon as well as the rapist...

people should also look up is a felony in their states as well, some people with felonies are just normal people that made a simple mistake...

should all felony DUIs be banned from voting for the rest of their life?

should the kid that went to Mexico and bought a prescription med and is busted with it be a felon?

there are many ignorant ways to be a convicted felon, and not all felons are bad people...