Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe
Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration says the felons whose rights he restored in a blanket order April 22 were “overwhelmingly nonviolent” and, on average, completed the terms of their release 11 years ago.
The administration released an analysis Wednesday that found that more than 79 percent of the felons whose rights were restored “were convicted of felonies that were nonviolent in nature.”
The administration’s analysis leaves many questions unanswered. For example, it does not list the crimes that the felons committed. It also does not say how many ex-offenders still owe money as a result of their convictions.
The administration has refused to release a list of the 206,000 ex-offenders whose rights the governor restored in his blanket order and says the information is exempt under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
The conclusion that 79 percent were nonviolent represents 128,733 of the 163,370 felons in the analysis. The administration said that is a representative sampling of the estimated 206,000 felons covered by the restoration order, although it does not include some ex-offenders who completed their sentences before 2005.
“I think (McAuliffe) would have been better off if he’d had this data available on the first day,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “But on the whole, I suppose this proves his point — we’re mainly talking about nonviolent offenders.”
This evening, McAuliffe will attend a town hall meeting in Richmond on his rights restoration order with local Democratic officials; Carlos Hopkins, counsel to the governor; and representatives of local Democratic, civil rights and religious organizations.
The town hall is scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. at 31st Street Baptist Church, 823 N. 31st St.
The governor’s office said in a statement Wednesday that “the analysis is based on conservative estimates that are likely to understate the percentage of nonviolent offenses as well as the length of time since completion of sentence.”
In response to the analysis, House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, called on the governor to release more detailed information on felons convicted of violent crimes.
The administration estimates the “most serious crime” committed by 20.7 percent of the felons in the analysis was violent in nature, but the speaker’s office said that percentage represents more than 40,000 of the estimated 206,000 felons whose rights were restored under McAuliffe’s order.
“The delayed, incomplete and unverified data released by Governor McAuliffe in no way excuses his reckless decision to restore the civil rights of violent offenders and flagrant violation of the constitution,” said Howell, who is leading a legal challenge of the action.
“Two weeks ago the McAuliffe administration said the crimes committed by these felons were ‘unknown’ and ‘irrelevant,’ ” he said in a statement. “Yet, today they released statistics proving that they do have data on past crimes.
“We now know that over 40,000 violent felons are now eligible to serve on juries. To call this irrelevant is a direct insult to the victims of these violent crimes. The governor needs to explain why he thinks violent criminals should have the right to serve on juries that have an obligation to uphold the law.”
Howell and other Republican leaders in the House of Delegates and state Senate say the governor’s order exceeded his authority under the Virginia Constitution. They have hired a top conservative lawyer to guide an expected lawsuit to challenge the governor’s executive order.
GOP leaders also charge that McAuliffe’s order — announced just after legislators left town — was part of the governor’s efforts to help presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton win Virginia’s electoral votes in November.
Howell has criticized McAuliffe for not distinguishing between violent and nonviolent felons.
However, under a process established by then-Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, violent felons also could have their rights restored five years after completing their sentences, including probation.
McAuliffe continued the process but reclassified some crimes as nonviolent and shortened the waiting period for felons convicted of violent crimes to three years.
“I have to wonder whether the speaker and his Republican colleagues believe in second chances,” said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
“If you believe in second chances, and these people have served their time and returned to society, allow them to participate in society with the right to vote,” McEachin said.
The analysis says that 45.9 percent of those whose rights were restored are black and 51.5 percent are white.
As of July 2014, blacks made up 19.7 percent of the state’s population, according to U.S. census figures.
The analysis says 76.9 percent of those whose rights were restored are male. It says the largest age group of those whose rights were restored are the 43,408 felons who are from 40 to 49.
It says the largest group of felons whose rights were restored — nearly 43,000 — had been released and completed their supervision 10 to 20 years earlier.
The administration’s analysis is based on more than 163,000 matches within the databases of the Virginia Department of Corrections and the Virginia Compensation Board.
“While the available data systems do not have easily searchable demographic information for these individuals, they are qualified under the governor’s order because they are not currently in prison or jail or subject to supervised release,” McAuliffe’s office said in a statement releasing the analysis.
The administration has said since the governor signed the order that it likely applies to more than 206,000 ex-offenders. The estimate does not include people convicted of federal felonies or who moved to Virginia from other states.
It also excludes felons who appear under multiple names, birth dates or Social Security numbers. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office is helping ex-offenders in those cases to verify that their rights were restored under the order.
