Courier Editorial in Support of Voting Rights

From the Courier Journal Editorial Board
Beshear Gets it

The American system of justice assumes that, once a person has paid the penalty for crime, it's in everybody's interest to help that individual integrate productively into society. Prosecutors should understand that, but some don't get it.

It makes every kind of sense for Gov. Steve Beshear to have restored voting rights for 790 felons and to have streamlined the needlessly obstructive process that Gov. Ernie Fletcher used for qualifying. Only Dr. Fletcher had put up such barriers to voting and running for public office.

To call what Mr. Beshear has done "partial pardons" is to encourage misunderstanding, and to rouse an overreaction by those who prefer revenge to rehabilitation. The 790 who have had some rights restored have fulfilled all their sentencing requirements. And what the Governor has done will not erase their records or enable them to own weapons.

Mr. Beshear has shown extra concern for the views of prosecutors, by giving them an extra two weeks to object to any proposed restoration of rights. And 56 applicants have been turned down, based on what prosecutors have said.

It wasn't big news when Dr. Fletcher restored rights to at least 50 murderers during his term, and it's no cause to wring hands when Mr. Beshear's actions include at least eight murderers.

Tough-minded Jefferson County Commonwealth' s Attorney Dave Stengel got it right. "I was opposed to what Fletcher did to start with." So were we. And we agree with Mr. Stengel that Mr. Fletcher's actions looked like "a thinly-veiled attempt to disenfranchise people or keep them disenfranchised."

The justice system should not be exploited for partisan advantage.

Giving convicts a stake in decent society, and its democratic processes, is not only the just thing to do but the smart investment to make.