Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director for the ACLU of Virginia, said blacks are most affected by the current rules.
Thousands of felons convicted of drug crimes could have speedier access to the restoration of rights application process through changes Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Friday.
McAuliffe is removing drug crimes from the list of felonies that require a waiting period before applying for reinstatement of voting rights, as well as reducing that waiting period to three years from five years after time is served and fines and restitution are paid.
While it’s unclear how many disenfranchised felons would immediately benefit from the drug crimes change, thousands of people last fiscal year were convicted of drug crimes that previously fell under the waiting period.
In fiscal 2013, at least 3,833 sentencing events included a charge of possession with the intent to sell, the sale, distribution or manufacture of a schedule I/II drug, as well as possession with intent to sell, distribution or manufacture of marijuana or a Schedule III/IV drug, according to statistics compiled by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission.
One “sentencing event” could include more than one charge. The sentencings are categorized by the offense with the highest maximum penalty by statute.
In all, about 24,170 sentencing events occurred in fiscal 2013. The 3,833 events do not include thousands of other sentencings for drug possession, which is already considered nonviolent for the purposes of restoration of rights.
Nonviolent felons do not have to wait to apply for their rights to be restored once they served their time and paid fines and restitution.
Civil rights groups that have advocated for several years, to several administrations, for a more automatic restoration-of-rights process were pleased with McAuliffe’s announcement but continue to press for an overhaul.
“African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of Virginia’s drug laws,” the ACLU of Virginia’s executive director, Claire Guthrie Gastañaga said in a statement.
“As the Justice Policy Institute reported earlier this month, while African-Americans comprise only 20 percent of Virginia’s population, they make up 72 percent of those in prison for a drug offense.
“By recategorizing drug offenses from being considered violent to nonviolent offenses, the administration will not only make thousands eligible to have their rights restored under the less onerous criteria, but will also help to lessen the impact of the discriminatory enforcement of Virginia’s drug laws.”
In Virginia, only the governor can restore the civil rights to felons, and attempts over the years to amend the Virginia Constitution to allow automatic restoration have failed. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell put his political weight behind a constitutional amendment for nonviolent felons; when it failed, he made changes administratively.
An estimated 350,000 people are disenfranchised in Virginia, according to the Sentencing Project.
Hope Amezquita, staff attorney and legislative counsel at the ACLU of Virginia, which had specifically asked for most drug offenses to be moved to the nonviolent offense list for purposes of restoration of rights, said she is pleased with McAuliffe’s changes but that “this is a step-by-step process.”
“We’re happy with the reduced waiting time, but it’s still another bureaucratic hurdle for people who want to get their rights back,” she said.
The ACLU contends that the governor can issue an executive order automatically restoring the rights to ex-offenders. If not that, advocates will continue to push for other changes, including removing the requirement of payment of fines and restitution before application.
Edward A. Hailes, the Advancement Project’s managing director and general counsel, said while he’s glad to see the changes, the group remains concerned about the distinction between violent and nonviolent offenses in the restoration-of-rights process.
