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| "Voting-rights
restoration helps us all" |
| MICHAEL
PAUL WILLIAMS - TIMES-DISPATCH
COLUMNIST |
| Published:
August 20, 2008 |
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PETERSBURG
As she read the contents of the certified mail, Carla
Whitehead shed tears of joy.
The envelope included an order from Gov. Timothy M.
Kaine restoring Whitehead's right to vote, hold office
and serve on a jury or as a notary public.
An accompanying letter said Kaine, after considering
her case and her life since her conviction and release,
"has determined that you have the potential and
desire to be a valuable asset to our commonwealth
and for those reasons he had decided to grant your
petition." |
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As
of Friday, Whitehead was among 158 nonviolent former inmates since
mid-April who have had their voting rights restored in Virginia,
according to Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Bernard Henderson.
Whitehead, a Chester resident, said her 1995 welfare-fraud conviction
marked the beginning of a transformation that culminated with
that Aug. 11 letter.
"Basically, I view it as part of the restoration of my life
. . . the opportunity for me to make a positive impact so others
can see it from me," said Whitehead, a family-development
specialist for a nonprofit group in Petersburg. |
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"If
God could do it for me, he could do it for other folks,"
she said. "Call it a physical testimony, just for me to be
able to go out and vote."
According to Henderson, groups working toward the restoration
of voting rights had requested a target date that would allow
nonviolent former prisoners to be able to vote in November if
their application was approved. The state agreed to do its best
to process applications received by Aug. 1. No promises were made
regarding the processing of applications from those convicted
of violent offenses because the review process is more complicated.
Henderson -- who stressed that no shortcuts are being taken in
the review process -- said yesterday that the state received 918
applications by Aug. 1. Of those, 733 were found to be qualified
for restoration. Others were disqualified because of subsequent
convictions or incomplete applications. The target for processing
the applications is Sept. 15. |
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Whitehead
attended a four-hour re-entry seminar at Goodwill of Central Virginia
in Petersburg, where she was inspired by facilitator Hasan Zarif,
a former prisoner who a year ago had his voting rights restored.
She said her previous efforts to regain her voting rights had
ended in frustration, deterred by lack of knowledge of the process
and her own shame. Zarif's session taught her that she needed
to forgive herself before moving on.
"It let you know there are possibilities and you can get
your life back," she said. "It did reaffirm that it
was still possible for me." |
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Zarif
passed out registration forms and sent applicants to Third Street
Bethel A.M.E. Church in Richmond, one of numerous partners in
the voter-restoration effort in Virginia, among the most restrictive
states in the nation. There, volunteers assisted applicants with
forms and delivered the applications to the governor.
Zarif said the restoration of voting rights signals to employers
that a former offender is a productive citizen. He stresses in
his seminars that participants should be drugand alcohol-free
and engaged in spiritual and civic pursuits.
"It's not just about going in and getting your rights restored,"
Zarif said. "We're giving them a recipe for what they need
to be doing so when the governor restores their rights, he's restoring
the rights of a productive citizen." |
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Exactly.
Restoration removes Whitehead and others from the sidelines and
places them back in society as empowered, productive citizens.
It's not enough that they desire to be valuable assets to our
community. We all should desire it. |
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| Click
link to view other articles about Chaplain Service |
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"Ex-offenders
Grateful for Restored Rights" The Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Voting
Rights Restoration helps us All" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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Many
Factors Behind Second Highest Toll - The State of the Death Penalty
in VA.
The
Richmond Times Dispatch
(Please be sure to view the two Acrobat PDF files
provided in this article at InRich.com) |
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"Pastors
with a Past" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Panel
Discusses Felons Who Want Right to Vote" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Tight
Budget Forces Chaplains to Regroup" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Virginia's
prison population forecast to rise"
The Richmond
Times Dispatch |
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"Keeping
the Faith in Prison"
The Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Chaplain
Service job seems made to order" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Prison
Chaplain Service Celebrates 85 Years" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"Second
Chances at Life"
Christianity Today |
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"Chaplains
On Call for Death - And Life" The
Richmond Times Dispatch |
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"The
Chaplain Service Remembers Those in Prison"
The Richmond
Times Dispatch |
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