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"Panel
Discusses Felons Who Want Right to Vote" |
By
Robin Farmer, Richmond Times Dispatch |
Published:
April 23, 2008 |
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When
Hasan Zarif was sentenced to life in prison in 1973,
he knew he had to turn his life around.
“I went in with a sixth-grade education, I
came out with a college education,” Zarif
said yesterday during a symposium at the Omni Richmond
Hotel on “Restoration of Voting Rights to
Ex-Offenders in Virginia.” He was paroled
after 17 years. |
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“After
35 years and six months I got my right [to vote] restored,”
by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, said Zarif, chaplain service coordinator
for Goodwill of Central Virginia. |
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Zarif
was part of a panel that addressed the disenfranchisement of
numerous voting-age Virginians because of felony convictions.
He spoke during a 90-minute symposium coordinated by the Virginia
Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. |
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Among
the participants were Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-3rd; Del. Dwight
Clinton Jones, D-Richmond; the Rt. Rev. Adam J. Richardson,
bishop of the Second Episcopal District; Bernard Henderson,
deputy secretary of the commonwealth of Virginia; William J.
Pantele, president of Richmond City Council; and Melvin Law,
president of the Richmond chapter of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People. |
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Virginia
has among the harshest laws nationwide. Offenders with felony
convictions automatically lose the right to vote, although there
is a procedure for restoring it under certain conditions.
“The governor is committed to restoring these rights”
and already has done so for 1,340 people so far, Henderson said. |
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Because
the upcoming presidential race has generated interest among
ex-offenders, all applications for restoration of rights filled
out accurately and received by Aug. 1 will be responded to with
the hope of being approved in time for the presidential election,
he said. |
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Another
speaker said that 378,000 Virginians are unable to vote because
of past criminal convictions as of 2001, but Henderson said
the number is unknown. |
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“No
one is keeping records of how many felons there are in Virginia,”
Henderson said after the meeting. “Not even the Department
of Corrections.” |
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To
apply for restoration of rights, nonviolent offenders must meet
criteria that include a three-year waiting period after all
court obligations are fulfilled. For violent offenders or those
convicted of drug manufacturing or distribution offenses, the
wait is five years. |
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More
information and forms are available online at http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov
or by calling (804) 786-2441.
Help is also available at Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church,
616 N. 3rd St. in Richmond. The church, which is the conference’s
host, has been working on voter registration all year. |
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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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