This isn’t about civil rights, perhaps it should be. Suffice it to say, this Nation was founded on
a principle that rights derive from God, not man. While society has an absolute
right to legislate certain behavior and enforce a code with criminal penalties,
Virginia is in the minority of states who do not automatically restore a felon’s
civil rights at the conclusion of his (or her) sentence. That Virginia stands out with such a hostile
position on rights restoration is ironic given the Commonwealth’s history as
the focal point of this Nation’s democracy and the home to revered figures such
as Jefferson and Madison.
But that isn’t the point of this piece. This is about the lack of political will by
Governors to use their power to pardon.
Exercising that power is not without risk. Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
pardoned 200 present and former inmates on his last day in office and was
publicly skewered, mostly by CNN talking head Anderson Cooper. As an aside, I wonder if Cooper’s continuing
interest in Barbour’s pardons is the result of Barbour being a Republican
(Anderson said nothing when New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo (Democrat)
released thousands to reduce his state’s huge budget deficit).
Barbour acted, as he said, out of a deep sense of “Christian
faith” that everyone deserves a second chance.
That sentiment is shared by men such as former Arkansas Governor Mike
Huckabee (R) who coincidentally is also an ordained Baptist Minister.
And the exercise of that power has historically been
routinely used by Governors to manage prison populations, correct miscarriages
of justice and to make far-reaching statements about our criminal justice
system. Somehow though, as the call for
more religion in our society has grown, we have become a Nation using the
criminal justice system solely for retribution.
The demand for longer, harsher sentencing, and the public’s indifference
to the horrendous conditions in our Nation’s prisons, are completely devoid of
the fundamental premises of Christianity which so many politicians and pundits
espouse.
No less an authority than United States Supreme Court
Justice Anthony Kennedy along with the American Bar Association wisely
recommended in 2004 that both the President and Governors “revitalize the
clemency process”. This plea has, it
appears, fallen on deaf ears.
Virginia currently has as its Governor, Robert McDonnell, a
graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regents University Law School, a school dedicated
to the practice of law in keeping with the tenets of Christian faith. McDonnell, during his election run, routinely
spoke about his faith as he courted Evangelical voters. Throughout his first two years in office he
has spoken eloquently about his faith.
And yet, McDonnell has done virtually nothing to alleviate
overcrowding in Virginia’s prisons. He
has done virtually nothing to institute meaningful sentence and prison
reform. Last year he released two
terminally ill inmates on conditional release so they could die at home with
their families, just two. Meanwhile, the
number of inmates over the age of 50 has grown dramatically.
McDonnell’s parole board releases less than three percent of
the inmates who appear before them, an abysmal number. Inmates are all treated the same regardless
of the efforts they show to be remorseful and rehabilitated.
I wonder how differently the growth of Christianity would
have been if Jesus, when confronted by the lawyers holding the adulterous woman
had said, “Give me the rock. She broke
the law. She deserves to die. No mercy.”
But, thankfully for all of us, that isn’t what He said, or
did. He set a high bar – for all of
us. We are called to show mercy.
Governors have that power.
It’s high time they use it.
Prison is supposed to create an atmosphere of rehabilitation and
remorse, not a breeding ground for revenge and retribution. Governor McDonnell can be a leader in the
effort to bring real faith into the system.
Pardon me, Governor. Isn’t that
what our faith is all about?
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