I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to roll out my legislative agenda. This is the fourth in the series.
Computer whiz kid Aubrey L. Beach III, a Maury grad and currently a student at Virginia Tech, found out the hard way that crime doesn’t pay. Tuesday he was sentenced to 8 months in jail, after pleading guilty to one count of production of false identification documents.
Beach’s computer skills became well known throughout the community, his attorney said. At 16, Beach began making driver’s licenses for his friends, changing the date of birth so the youths would appear to be of legal drinking age, prosecutors said.
Initially, he charged $50 per license but increased his fee to $150.
The licenses were nearly indistinguishable from real ones. He created them with holograms and special paper he purchased over the Internet. He also used software to change not only the date of birth on the front of the card but the birth date hidden in the license’s bar code.
What struck me when I read this story Wednesday morning was the fact that the guilty plea by Beach was a felony. And we all know what that means: loss of the right to vote. Young Mr. Beach joins some 5.3 million Americans who have also lost their right to vote due to such convictions. But Beach also joined some 240,000 Virginians ~ and in Virginia, getting back the ability to vote is an uphill climb.
Virginia is one of two states that permanently bars felons from voting. According to a 2006 op-ed piece by the Virginian-Pilot:
For ex-felons here, however, Virginia is among the toughest states in the country to regain voting rights. Released felons must first finish supervised probation and parole. They then must wait three years if they committed a nonviolent offense, or five years for violent offenses, election fraud, or drug-distribution or manufacturing convictions. Only then can they petition the governor for restoration of civil rights.
No offense to the governor, but doesn’t he have something better to do with his time than review applications? After all, why shouldn’t voting rights be restored once the individual has paid his/her debt to society?
The truth is that the majority of the rest of the states (pdf) have some form of automatic restoration of voting rights. Again from the Pilot, this time from April 2007:
Some 39 states and the District of Columbia now allow voting after completion of a sentence, if not sooner, according to The Sentencing Project.
Virginia, unfortunately, maintains a system increasingly out of step with the rest of the nation.
[…]
This cumbersome procedure should be arrested. There’s no pride in being one of the two worst states for disfranchisement of released felons.
Year after year, Senator Yvonne Miller introduces legislation that would rectify this problem. 2008 is no different; Senator Miller has introduced SJ7. As this article points out, it is a goal that progressives and conservatives alike can ~ and should ~ support.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Mosquito, I agree that “white collar” crimes are not punished as harshly as they should be.
AEM – I have what I have through 30 yrs of hard work. I start my day at 5am. When I first was released, checking on a past criminal history for a job or apt. was not done. Of course this doesn’t apply to home ownership. For the first 20 yrs, I always said no when asked during an interview. Now, with such a long resume it doesn’t matter anymore for most jobs. Computers and the Internet have changed all that, now it is routine and most do not get an even break. There are jobs however that I am permanently barred from for life. Government jobs (this is funny to me), a job at a bank, an airport, etc. etc.
I am the exception, not the rule. I refused to let it hold me back. I had strong values and kind loving parents and a will to do well.
Expungement is a lot harder to get than you think, especially after 911. That is the basic problem for most who would like another chance. They will never escape the record. I watched a news article recently about a Mfg. company that only employed reformed alcoholics and reformed drug addicts. They watched out for each other and kept each other straight. This is another group where you must be a member to truly understand.
You are confused? I hope you stay that way.
Glen — I have what I have through the Grace of God. He gave me the mind and the will to achieve what I have achieved. Even the “poor” in this country live better than 75% of the world’s population. Your garbage disposal probably eats better than 75% of the world’s population.
You said you committed no other crimes, but you admit to fraud in your job interviews. Your contradictory statements do keep me confused.
Anyway, I do not understand why you would expect an employer to hire a felon when he has the option to hire someone else. If he does, he should be compensated for the risk by paying less.
You are an exception, and I know others. Yet you want employers and landlord to act toward felons as though you are the rule, not the exception. Yes, that is confusing.
I also am grateful to God. You are correct in that statement. Your accusation of fraud is incorrect however. I was not required by law to disclose until later. I figured it was nobody’s business. Since the law changed I do disclose. I would like to see an expungement or pardon though. Current law will not let me do this. There should at least be some sort of time limit. Perhaps I’ll check out some polls on this. I wonder how many ex-felons there are in this country that do vote. There are 5.3 million who cannot vote. I’ll bet the number is large.
My understanding is that lying in an interview to get a job is fraud. It doesn’t really matter what one is lying about.