Sex Offenders for Hillary

In April, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an executive order granting voting rights to over 200,000 felons. Republicans decried the unilateral action as a blatant attempt to boost presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by one of her oldest political allies.

McAuliffe said the move was to remedy historic injustices towards the black community — conveniently for him and Clinton black voters are among the most reliable demographics for Democrats. But although those to be released included major felons like murderers and rapists, Gov. McAuliffe assured the public that those “people have served their time and … their probation” and were harmless to society.

“It should have been an expected outcome when you do a blanket order for over 200,000 felons without looking at a single file.”

“I want you back in society,” McAuliffe said. “I want you feeling good about yourself.” But despite McAuliffe’s initial claims, it now seems that his order may have restored voting rights to at least 132 sex offenders who, although they’ve served their initial sentences, remain confined to the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR), as they have been deemed too dangerous to release into the public.

“He’s managed to put politics above public safety,” said Virginia State Delegate and chairman of the House Militia, Police & Public Safety Committee Scott Lingamfelter.

Terry J. Royall, Attorney for Nottoway County — where the facility is located — said that 132 of the center’s 370 wards regained their rights to vote, run for public office and serve on a jury. Ryall said the facility’s director revealed there may be as many as 176 felons who ultimately fit the governor’s criteria.

McAuliffe’s camp is denying the news. “The governor’s restoration order specifically excludes individuals who are under any form of supervised release, and offenders in this facility are clearly under 24-7 supervision by the state,” said McAuliffe spokeswoman Christina Nuckols.

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But Nuckols’ statement appears inaccurate. Although supervised, the residents of VCBR are not technically under supervised release — they have already been fully released but were then committed by a civil court in the name of public safety. They are no longer part of the criminal system.

The revelations come as little surprise to Virginia Republicans, who filed a lawsuit against McAuliffe’s original release order. Voting rights have been restored to felons in Virginia before by other governors, but in each of those cases the releases were done on a case-by-case basis.

But it’s more than just voting rights at stake. These felons have had their right to sit on a jury restored also.

“This is an incredibly ill conceived policy,” Lingamfelter said. “Do you really want the person who was jailed for assault and battery ten years ago sitting on a jury of someone charged with assault and battery today?”

“This Republican has no problem with rights restoration done in the right way,” Lingamfelter said, “Done the right way is not en masse.”

The sentiment was shared by State Delegate Dave Albo, the chairman of the Courts & Justice Committee in the Virginia House.

“It should have been an expected outcome when you do a blanket order for over 200,000 felons without looking at a single file,” said Albo.

“I don’t have a problem with people who have done their time, paid their debt to society, paid their restitution having their rights restored,” Albo continued, “but that this is certainly not the case with the nearly 200 sex offenders who meet Gov. McAuliffe’s blanket rights-restoration criteria.”

“Everything should have been looked at on a case by case basis,” Albo continued.

Lingamfelter felt confident in the Republican challenge in the courts.

“Frankly speaking he didn’t follow the constitution which is why we’re taking him to court and I think we will emerge victorious,” Lingamfelter said.