Felony Disenfranchisement in Virginia: 300,000 People, and counting…

In Virginia alone, over 300,000 people are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. (click the link for an earlier post about my own disenfranchisement)

What is that, you ask?

Disenfranchisement is the revocation of the right of suffrage (the right to vote) to a person or group of people, or rendering a person’s vote less effective, or ineffective.

Why is this important?

Well, let me explain.

Somehow, the word “felon” has become synonymous with heinous crimes like murder, rape, etc. In Virginia, there are 6 “classes” of felonies and 4 classes of misdemeanors. A class 6 felony is considered the least severe, and carries exactly the same maximum punishment as the most severe class of misdemeanor. There’s no clear cut formula that determines the line between felony and misdemeanor, and in some cases the line that is drawn is grossly disproportionate to the actual crimes committed.

Keep in mind, we’re talking about a state where, “Any person, not being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any other person, shall be guilty of fornication, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor. ” (Code of Virginia, § 18.2-344. Fornication)

Not to mention this gem, from Code of Virginia, § 18.2-345. Lewd and lascivious cohabitation;

“If any persons, not married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together, or, whether married or not, be guilty of open and gross lewdness and lasciviousness, each of them shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor; and upon a repetition of the offense, and conviction thereof, each of them shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.”

I’m not sure what “lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together” really means, but I’m sure it can be widely interpreted and applied to just about any unmarried couple that lives together in the Commonwealth. Now, chances are you have to really piss off a cop to get charged with either of these “crimes”, but the fact that they still exist in the books is a reality check that none of us can afford to ignore.

I’ve been convicted of a class 6 felony in Virginia. My crime was a series of about 4 bad checks, $50 each. They were my checks, so I didn’t steal them or anything. The account was closed, but I managed to cash the checks at some Mom and Pop store. By the time I made it to court, the amount had been paid in full to the store where the checks were written (plus bounced check fees of about $100). What’s interesting is that there are many (in my opinion) more serious crimes that are either on par or beneath mine in terms of how the law classifies them.

For instance,

§ 18.2-369. Abuse and neglect of incapacitated adults; penalty.

A. It shall be unlawful for any responsible person to abuse or neglect any incapacitated adult as defined in this section. Any responsible person who abuses or neglects an incapacitated adult in violation of this section and the abuse or neglect does not result in serious bodily injury or disease to the incapacitated adult is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Granted, a class 1 misdemeanor carries the same criminal penalties as a class 6 felony. The main difference is that apparently, according to Virginia law, you can abuse an incapacitated adult (and by incapacitated adult they mean any person 18 years or older who is impaired by reason of mental illness, mental retardation, physical illness or disability, advanced age or other causes to the extent the adult lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make, communicate or carry out reasonable decisions concerning his well-being) and retain your civil rights – but a $200 bad check results in permanent disenfranchisement.

You can apply to have your civil rights restored, but the process is lengthy and there’s a period of several years that you must wait after having completed your sentence and/or probation or parole and paying all restitution and fines. There’s also no guarantee that your application will be approved. The number of ex-felons who are actually able to complete the application process and are approved is a very small percentage of the total number of disenfranchised individuals in the state. The number of newly disenfranchised each year exceeds the number of ex-felons who regain their civil rights.

Despite evidence that bringing ex-felons back into the franchise actually reduces the recidivism rate, Virginia continues to disenfranchise any and all convicted felons regardless of the nature of the crime and in spite of the fact that all but one other state have changed their laws to allow most, if not all, ex-felons to keep their right to vote or regain it automatically upon completing their sentence.

The waiting period keeps many ex-felons from being eligible to have their civil rights restored, because disenfranchised felons are more likely to be reoffenders. Like myself, I’m sure there are a number of disenfranchised felons who are unable to apply for restoration of civil rights due to misdemeanor marijuana possession conviction.

Read another post, “The War on Drugs: Are We the Enemy?” for information on marijuana policy in the United States, and how it isn’t working to keep dangerous drugs off the streets, or people off drugs.

The Sentencing Project is a civil rights advocacy group. On their web site, they break down the numbers on felony disenfranchisement by state, as well as arrest rates per 100,000. According to the map, nearly 20% of the African American population of the Commonwealth are affected by our failure to change a constitutional amendment and associated laws that were intentionally put in place as a means to suppress the minority vote. In 2000, African Americans made up just under 20% of the total population in Virginia. That number doesn’t include people of mixed descent, but that doesn’t take away the fact that it’s a significant number of people – nearly 400,000 total and 300,000 African Americans in Virginia alone. African Americans are more likely to be arrested and convicted of felony crimes. Since a large number of nonviolent felonies often go unpunished, and there is no empirical evidence to support the fact that blacks actually commit more criminal offenses than whites – it stands to reason that there still exist significant racial prejudices within our law enforcement and judicial systems.

If you’re one of the nearly half a million people in Virginia who have lost the right to vote because of a criminal conviction or a friend, family member, co-worker, of someone who is affected by this then please, take a moment to write or call your congressperson, senator, the governor, or even the President of the United States. Talk to other voters you know and urge them to take action, as well. We may not have a voice in the elections, but we can still use our voices to reach our communities and stir up interest in this very important, yet somehow constantly overlooked issue of civil rights and racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

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