McAuliffe restores voting rights for 206K ex-felons
Posted: Fri, 22 Apr 2016 18:08:38
My personal belief is that if you're free and out on the street, you should have all of your rights restored. If people have a problem with that, then I guess our prison sentence lengths need to be looked at and extended. You're either rehabilitated or you're not.
Of course McAuliffe does it in the most hypocritcal and scummy way possible - by executive order in an election year. Instead of pressing to modify the state's constitution, a stroke of the pen by one man days after the General Assembly finishes its session for the year is all it takes. And does this executive order also restore the gun rights of these felons? Of course not. There wouldn't be any hypocrisy if that happened.
Of course McAuliffe does it in the most hypocritcal and scummy way possible - by executive order in an election year. Instead of pressing to modify the state's constitution, a stroke of the pen by one man days after the General Assembly finishes its session for the year is all it takes. And does this executive order also restore the gun rights of these felons? Of course not. There wouldn't be any hypocrisy if that happened.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/g ... fb212.htmlGov. Terry McAuliffe today signed an order restoring the voting rights of 206,000 ex-felons, a sweeping action the governor said was aimed at rectifying Virginia's "long and sad history" of suppressing African-American voting power.
Coming in a presidential election year, a swift backlash ensued as Republicans accused McAuliffe of abusing his executive power to help longtime ally Hillary Clinton win a battleground state by putting more likely Democratic voters on the books.
The governor's order applies to all violent and nonviolent felons who have completed all phases of their sentences and supervised release as of Friday - even those who have not applied for a restoration of rights - a departure from past policies in which governors restored rights on an individual basis.
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“Considering that the entire General Assembly was in session just two days ago, the timing of this action should give all legislators pause," said Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City."Perhaps this governor does not expect to have to work with the General Assembly next session, as he might be planning on an appointment to an office headquartered in a different capital city."