In Virginia, it’s still one mistake and your right to vote
is revoked after the commonwealth’s Jacobin conservatives in the House of
Delegates disbanded Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) No. 266[1]
which would have restored the rights of non-violent felons who have paid their
penalties to society.[2]
SJR 266 was not only endorsed by the Democratic Party, it
was a priority for Virginia’s Republican governor, Bob McDonnell.[3]
So much for handing the governor a political victory.
At present, the power to restore the rights of felons lies
at the discretion of the governor. But McDonnell wanted to make the process easier
for non-violent felons who have served their time and paid their fines.
“I believe strongly in second chances, redemption and
opportunity,”[4]
McDonnell said. By implication, those who voted against this resolution don’t
believe in second chances, redemption and opportunity.
Of course, isn’t that what America stands for, second
chances? At least, second chances is what America used to stand for. But under
the groggy and befuddled watch of Republicans who would rather chain Virginia
to a past that doesn’t exist anymore, Virginians who make mistakes and get
caught will still have to rely on the good will, energy, and political
circumstances of Virginia’s chief executive to give them back their rights.
I can’t imagine what
it must feel like to be essentially a non-citizen; if you do not have the full
rights of a citizen of this county, can you really be considered a citizen at
all?
But the beliefs underlying the GOP effort to unravel
attempts to give Virginians a second chance at full citizenship is just as
troubling as the consequences of their actions.
Their beliefs are so rigid and glued to a world of privilege
that they cannot and will not seek to comprehend the hardships that so many
average Virginians have to face on a daily basis and the consequent
opportunities to make bad decisions. Because if they did, they would readily
understand that a person who commits a bad act is not necessarily a bad person themselves,
a person unworthy of a second opportunity at complete citizenship.
[1] http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+SJ266S1
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/felon-rights-restoration-gone-for-session-after-proposal-fails-in-subcommittee/2013/02/11/0198fc6c-7495-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/virginia-legislature-gets-underway/2013/01/09/39a01222-5a90-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_story.html
[4] http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/felon-rights-restoration-gone-for-session-after-proposal-fails-in-subcommittee/2013/02/11/0198fc6c-7495-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html
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