November 19, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Civil rights organizations are asking Gov.
Timothy M. Kaine to sign an executive order restoring the rights of
nearly 300,000 felons before he leaves office in January.

Virginia and Kentucky are the only two states that permanently
strip felons of their civil rights, such as voting, serving on
juries or holding public office. In Virginia, the power to restore
those rights lies solely with the governor.

Kaine has restored rights to more than 4,000, felons, a greater
number than any other Virginia governor. He and former Gov. Mark
Warner, a fellow Democrat, restored more altogether than the
previous 16 administrations. The groups are worried they will lose
ground when Republican Bob McDonnell takes office.

They started a major push this week, including e-mail and
letter-writing campaigns and planned rallies, to convince Kaine to
act. They also plan to ask President Obama and other states to
pressure Kaine, who serves as chair of the Democratic National
Committee, to grant blanket restoration.

"What does he have to lose?" asked Janice "Jay" Johnson,
chair of the Virginia Organizing Project, one of the groups
organizing the effort. "It would be different if there were a
number of other states that hadn't already made the changes."

Kaine, a former civil rights attorney, said he would consider an
executive order, but that he felt the process had been streamlined
enough to make rights restoration attainable for those who wanted
it.

"If we are restoring the rights of those who are applying,
should we restore the rights of those who haven't even applied?"
Kaine said. "If they haven't applied, they're less interested in
it, I guess."

Those who are pushing for across-the-board restoration say many
felons do not know getting their rights restored is an option. Even
though the application and waiting time was shortened under Warner,
many remain intimidated by the process.

Harold Folley, 38, of Charlottesville, said he looked into it in
1999 after serving four years in prison for a drug violation, but
it was too daunting. A decade later, he petitioned the governor and
had his rights restored in May.

Last month was the first time he ever voted, something he called
"empowering."

"To be in that booth was like I was in charge," he said. "I
had the opportunity to voice my opinion."

Folley now helps other felons with the process. The background
check alone takes about six months.

In Virginia, nonviolent felons who are crime-free for three
years and have paid their dues can petition the governor to have
their rights restored. Violent felons or those convicted of
drug-related crimes must wait five years.

Since 1997, 20 states have made it easier for felons to regain
their voting rights. A bill to allow anyone released from prison to
vote in federal elections is making its way through Congress.
Iowa's governor signed a similar executive order in 2005.

"This is a country that's built on laws and freedoms and
rights," Johnson said. "At some point when you have lost your
freedom and you have regained it, you should also regain your
rights."

Kaine said there should be "an overwhelming bias" toward
granted rights, especially for nonviolent offenders. He supports
amending the state's constitution to set up a statutory process for
restorations so that they are not granted "based on the
personality of the governor."

Bills to change that have been proposed for at least a decade
but have been unsuccessful.

"If Gov. Kaine don't do it, I don't think it's going to be
done," said Herbert Townes, 52, of Hopewell.

That's why Townes has written to Kaine and is now taking copies
of the letter to local barber shops and anywhere else he goes to
try to get more people to support the change.

Townes spent a year on probation for check fraud charges and got
his rights restored in 2006. That has allowed him to become a
notary public so he can help other felons regain their rights. It
also prompted him to serve on city boards and make weekly visits to
the jail to help others with re-entry issues like regaining their
rights.

Losing his rights was crippling, Townes said, but regaining them
gave him hope.

"When I got it in the mail, it gave me some self worth," he
said. "It gave me that feeling that maybe I can do better.

"That's the least we can do. We can let people know that they
are worthy of a second chance."