Kaine urges nonviolent offenders to seek rights restoration

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who leaves office in January, today encouraged people with nonviolent felony convictions who have paid their debt to society to apply to have their voting rights restored.

Speaking on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP in Washington, Kaine noted that both he and his predecessor as governor, Mark R. Warner, have restored the rights of more Virginians than any of the previous governors of the commonwealth combined.

Virginia and Kentucky are the only states that require people who have lost their rights through felony convictions to apply for reinstatement. In addition to voting rights, convicted felons in Virginia may also not serve on juries or hold public office.

"I think folks who serve their time should have their rights restored, especially those who have been convicted of nonviolent felonies," said Kaine.

WTOP political reporter Mark Plotkin asked why Kaine would not simply sign an executive order before he leaves office to restore rights to such individuals. Republican Governor-elect Bob McDonnell succeeds Kaine, a Democrat, on Jan. 16.

"Our analysis of Virginia law is that I can't just do a blanket restoration -- I have to restore people by name," the governor explained.

Kaine said the state has a simple one-page form to help expedite the process, which he says is "as near an automatic process as can be."

"You fill it out, you ask for your rights back," he said. "You demonstrate that you've served your time and that you've been out and you haven't committed any problems for a couple of years.

"If your felony was a nonviolent felony, we restored every right of everybody who applies," Kaine added. "If it's a violent felony, we dig into it a little more."

"I'm glad you asked me this question because there are folks out there who may still want to apply," Kaine added. "It may be tough...," he said before being cut off.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley Kaine joined Kaine on the hour-long radio show. Both fielded questions on a wide range of issues, including transportation, the budget, gay marriage and the Washington Redskins.

Kaine said he thought it would be "very difficult" for McDonnell to win approval from Virginia's Democrat-controlled state Senate for a statewide transportation plan if it involves draining money for education from the state's general fund budget.

He said that he and wife Anne Holton, who today celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, had begun preparing for civilian life by purchasing two vehicles with the economy and environment in mind: a hybrid vehicle and a "clean diesel" vehicle that gets 40 miles per gallon.

The governor also reiterated his stance that "everything is on the table" when asked whether taxes would figure into his budget writing for the fiscal 2011-2012 spending plan.

"It will be a balance of strategies," Kaine said.

Kaine said he was "very, very, disappointed" by the suggestion that the Catholic Archdiocese would consider pulling out of the District of Columbia if a law allowing gay marriage were passed.

"I'm a Catholic and I think it's wrong," Kaine said of a possible church pullout. "I don't think you take your ball and go home."

The governor also said he had attended the Washington Redskins game in Dallas last Sunday, where the Skins lost 7-6.

"It was an ugly game," said Kaine. "I give the defense credit -- they did a good job. But low-scoring, and losing it in the last couple of minutes -- it was pretty painful."