Monday, October 12, 2009
Felons don't deserve rights
From the RoundTable blog
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Rita K. Huddle
Huddle lives in Wytheville.
According to a 2008 Virginia State Police report, approximately one in four prisoners released in 2002 had been previously incarcerated in Virginia for a felony offense. Almost three in four prisoners had not been previously incarcerated for a felony but may have served time in prison or jail for misdemeanors or ordinance violations.
In 2008, a Group A crime was reported in Virginia every 70 seconds. Included in this category were 117,113 crimes against the person (homicide, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, abduction, forcible sex offenses, assault and non-forcible sex offenses), with one reported every 4 minutes, 30 seconds. In addition, 57,686 crimes against society (drug offenses, pornography/obscene material, gambling, prostitution, weapon law violations) were reported -- one every 9 minutes, 8 seconds. Another 337,191 crimes against property (robbery, arson, extortion/blackmail, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, counterfeiting/forgery, fraud, embezzlement, stolen property, destruction/damage/vandalism of property, bribery) were reported, averaging one every 1 minute, 34 seconds.
According to a report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, among state parole discharges in 2000, 59 percent unsuccessfully completed their term of supervision; this statistic was relatively unchanged since 1990. Cycling in and out of prison is common among released prisoners. Recently, the Bureau of Justice Statistics tracked more than 38,000 prisoners with sentences of over one year who were released from prisons in 15 states, including Virginia. According to this study, within three years of their release, nearly 52 percent of those released and tracked were back in prison on a new sentence or for technical violations of their release.
According to an FBI report, officials estimate that two-thirds of felons have prior arrest records. In addition, multistate offenders (those who have both federal and state records or arrests in more than one state) make up approximately 25 percent to 30 percent of the group. That same FBI report states that to be most effective, the offender's criminal history must be detected and legally documented.
In today's court system, whether it is due to lack of time, funds or personnel, many cases end in plea agreements and, in exchange, serious charges against perpetrators are dropped. This decreases the amount of workload on the investigators, the prosecutors and the court system. In the end, the felon wins by not having to suffer the full consequences of his/her actions. Then, at the end of the already inadequate sentence, the felon can have his rights restored to vote, to serve on a jury, hold public office and to serve as a notary public. After the governor has restored the convicted felon's rights, the felon can ask a circuit court judge for permission to have a gun.
These facts need to be considered when deliberating the acceptance of gubernatorial restoration of the civic rights of felons. Based on the statistics, released felons are not capable of being a productive member of society. Whether the reasons are preparation or self desire is a moot point. As of Sept. 1, Gov. Tim Kaine had restored the rights of 3,598 convicted felons. This exceeds the number of executive acts of clemency by any governor since 1938. Gov. Mark Warner was close with 3,486 restorations.
Who is capable of restoring the "rights" to the victims and victims' families? Do you think the felon had the rights of his victims on his/her mind at the time the crime was being committed? What can be restored to the mother whose child was abducted and murdered? What can be restored to the child whose parent was killed by a felon? What can be restored to the victim of a convicted sex offender? The sentence is never over for the victim. Why should the felon be rewarded for violence?
Society demands and deserves protection from harm, especially from criminals who victimize its citizens. Our law enforcement, justice system, penal system, elected officials and our private citizens can stop these callous criminals from hurting our communities. Now that election time is approaching, it is our duty to know how the candidates stand on this issue. We must exercise our rights as citizens to defend our well-being.
