ASHLAND —
State Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, D-Lexington, has prefiled a bill for consideration by the 2013 General Assembly that would automatically restore the voting rights of most convicted felons upon completion of their sentences and probation. It is a sensible idea that already exists in 46 states, but has been repeatedly rejected by the Republican majority in the state Senate.
Here’s hoping the pattern of broad bipartisan approval by the House of Representatives and no action by the Senate will end in 2013 and Kentucky will finally join 46 other states in assuring individuals are not denied the right to vote for the rest of their lives for relatively minor felonies they may have committed as teenagers.
Crenshaw’s bill, prefiled as Basic Resolution 166, proposes to amend Section 145 of the Constitution of Kentucky to allow persons convicted of a felony other than treason, intentional killing, a sex crime or bribery the right to vote after expiration of probation, final discharge from parole or maximum expiration of sentence. The bill would require a vote of the people to become law.
Currently, it requires a pardon by the governor to have their voting rights restored, but that should not be necessary. Once an individual has fully served his or her sentence and parole, his or her right to vote should be automatically restored. That’s the way it is in most states, but Kentucky requires action by the governor to restore voting rights, and once a politician is involved in the process, there is always the chance the governor will base the decision on whether to allow the felon to vote on his or her political views. That would be wrong, of course, but stranger things have happened in Kentucky.
Crenshaw filed a nearly identical bill during the 2012 General Assembly and it was approved by the House by a lopsided 78-18 vote, only to languish without a vote in the Senate. That’s been the pattern during all recent sessions of the General Assembly, and one hopes the replacement of former Senate President David Williams by Robert Stivers will get this bill moving in the Senate.
We realize few politicians are willing to stick their political necks out in support of convicted felons, but it is wrong for a person who has not been charged with new crimes to continue to not be able to vote because of something he or she did long ago. We believe in redemption. If a person is leading a law-abiding life, he or she should be given the right to vote. It’s as simple as that.
Opinion
Restore voting rights if felons have completed sentences
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The next step
The people — or at least those who took the time to vote in Tuesday’s special election — have spoken. The issue of alcohol sales in Grayson has ben settled for at least the next three years.
In an outcome that surprised many, Grayson voters rather convincingly for the legal sale of alcohol in the city for the first time since 1937. With 511 voters answering in the affirmative to the question, “Are you in favor of alcoholic beverages in Grayson, Ky.?” as opposed to 393 voting “no,” the results were not even close. The measure passed in all seven of the city’s precincts. -
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Top Father
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An unselfish act
Even before the start of the recent Boyd County Health Department’s Bicycle Rodeo, Gavin Eckard said that if he won one of the two bicycle given away at the event, he would give his new bike to someone who needed it more than he did.
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When their colleagues in the U.S. Senate rejected their efforts to legalize industrial hemp production as part of the Senate farm bill, Kentucky’s two Republican senators — Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and freshman Rand Paul — reacted to the Senate refusal to include their hemp proposal in the bill by saying they would oppose the comprehensive farm bill.
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A necessary evil
The shifting of the tax burden that began when the Ashland Board of City Commissioners first adopted the payroll tax in the 1990s continues as the mayor and four elected commissioners prepare to increase the payroll tax from 1.5 to 2 percent while at the same time decreasing property taxes.
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