Be merciful to ex-offenders
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In a heated presidential campaign, politicians have, like clockwork, started hitting each other over who is soft on crime. And here I thought we'd outgrown the Willie Horton era of playing political football with people's lives.
In Florida, a political action committee supporting Mitt Romney ran an ad criticizing Rick Santorum for voting to restore voting rights to ex-offenders who have finished their sentences. The issue popped up again during a heated Republican debate. I have never endorsed a candidate, but I feel compelled to speak up about this effort to demonize anyone who votes to return civil rights to criminals who have paid their debt to society.
What is the objection to allowing past offenders to vote? Voting does not put anyone in danger. Sound public policy would teach us that if we want to turn ex-offenders into responsible citizens, we must demand of them responsible behavior. And once they demonstrate responsible behavior, what possible justification is there, beyond scoring political points during an election, for stripping them of their civil rights for the rest of their lives?
Restoring voting rights is an important way society can welcome back those who strayed, sometimes seriously, but are now on the right path. It costs taxpayers nothing, but it means a great deal to an ex-offender.
I served time in a federal prison. And while I paid my debt to society in less than a year, it took me 30 years to have my voting rights restored. Maybe I'm not a good example, having been part of a national political scandal. But what about a young person, say, in his early 20s, who is convicted of three minor drug offenses? Once he serves his time, grows up and straightens out his life, should he be denied the right to vote again?
I know politics is a bare-knuckled game, but demonizing an entire class of Americans for electoral gain is wrong.
Consider recent events in Mississippi, where Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, has made an effort to overturn the pardons issued by former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour. As Mr. Barbour wrote in The Washington Post, he recently pardoned 215 offenders, more than 90 percent of whom had been recommended for pardon by the state parole board.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
