Tom Loftus

@TomLoftus_CJ

FRANKFORT, Ky. – During his campaign for governor and since his election, Matt Bevin has said he supports restoring civil rights to nonviolent felons who have completed their sentences.

Yet through his first 10 months in office, Bevin has not restored the civil rights, which include the right to vote, to a single person.

Bevin’s record on rights restoration contrasts with his two immediate predecessors, according to records of the Kentucky Secretary of State, where the restoration orders are filed.

Democrat Steve Beshear issued an average of 1,190 restorations of civil rights per year during his eight years in office.

And Beshear’s Republican predecessor, Ernie Fletcher, averaged 277 restorations per year during his 2003-07 term.

“My basic reaction is outrage,” said Rep. Darryl Owens of Bevin’s failure to issue any restorations. “You have a number of people who want to vote, who have requested the right to vote, who for no apparent reason are being denied that right by the governor. It’s heartbreaking. It’s frustrating.”

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Owens, a Louisville Democrat and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said research by his committee's staff shows that more than 800 applications, perhaps many more, from felons seeking restoration of rights have been submitted to the Bevin administration.

Amanda Stamper, Bevin’s press secretary, said in a statement that Bevin has not wavered on the issue and that the applications are under review. Bevin “believes in redemption and second chances in our justice system and personally championed the historic expungement bill signed into law this past session.”

Stamper mostly blamed the Beshears (both Steve and his son, Attorney General Andy Beshear) for distractions that have prevented Bevin from giving the matter sufficient attention.

“Unfortunately, our general counsel and his staff continue to be inundated with a multitude of frivolous politically motivated lawsuits from Andy Beshear, House Speaker Greg Stumbo and others, preventing them from devoting time to important matters like restoration of voting rights,” Stamper said.

As for the first five months of his administration before any lawsuits were filed, Stamper said that in addition to the hectic nature of a normal transition and preparation of a state budget, “Gov. Bevin inherited a mess from the previous administration and has been diligently working to clean it up.”

But Secretary of State records show that Fletcher, who like Bevin succeeded a Democrat, restored civil rights to 177 applicants during his first 10 months in office.

Terry Sebastian, spokesman for Andy Beshear's office, said in response to Stamper that the Kentucky Supreme Court, which recently ruled in Beshear’s favor in the case striking down Bevin’s unilateral cuts of state funding to universities, believes the lawsuits have not been frivolous.

“It is unfortunate that instead of governing, Gov. Bevin continues to spend his time attacking our court system, threatening state lawmakers and blaming the Attorney General’s Office,” Sebastian said.

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And advocates for restoration aren’t buying Stamper’s explanation.

“I’ve always been guided by the principle of looking at what people do, not what they say,” said Owens, who has sponsored bills in recent sessions to allow automatic restoration of civil rights for felons (with some exceptions including violent crimes and sexual offenses) upon completion of all terms of their sentences. Those bills have easily passed the Democratic House but been blocked in the Republican Senate. “The reality is, he’s received the applications and it’s his job to determine whether or not to grant them. But to do nothing – absolutely nothing for nearly a year – defies logic.”

Raoul Cunningham, president of the Kentucky State NAACP Conference, said Bevin’s words and actions on the issue since taking office “illustrate a classic example of giving campaign rhetoric with no action.”

Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, said, “Gov. Bevin has professed something here, but not used his authority to take the steps to carry out what he says he’s for, because clearly many individuals who’ve applied qualify for restoration, easily.”

But Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said he's certain Bevin remains committed to the issue because Bevin proved “his commitment to redemption and second chances” with his crucial support of the bill this year that allows persons who committed certain Class D felonies to have those convictions expunged from public records.

Still, advocates for restoration of rights note that soon after taking office in December, Bevin repealed an order issued by Beshear in his final days as governor that established a process to automatically restore the voting rights for felons who have completed all terms of their sentences, including restitution and probation, have no pending charges, and were not originally convicted of a violent crime, sex crime, bribery or treason.

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Bevin said in his repeal of Beshear’s order that he has “long been on record supporting the automatic restoration of civil rights” to non-violent offenders who have completed their sentences. But he said that reforming the process must be done by constitutional amendment rather than executive order.

“He can blame it on anybody he wants to, but the proof is in the pudding," Cunningham said. “... While he’s doing all this reorganizing, he could reorganize his office in a way to see that these applications are processed.”

Cunningham said, “Obviously, I would question if these individuals who have applied are being denied the right to vote for president, for the U.S. Senate and their local candidates. Voter suppression is one of the major concerns of the NAACP.”

Tuesday is the deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 8 elections.

Kentucky is one of only three states (Florida and Iowa are the others) that permanently take away the right to vote from all persons convicted of felonies and any restoration of voting rights must be approved by the state government, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

In Kentucky, only the governor can restore those rights.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com.

Civil rights restorations issued by recent governors

Fletcher administration

Dec. 9, 2003, through 2004: 317

2005: 252

2006: 274

2007 (through Dec. 10): 265

TOTAL: 1,108

Beshear administration

Dec. 11, 2007, through 2008: 1,807

2009: 1,618

2010: 1,030

2011: 1,230

2012: 1,156

2013: 1,138

2014: 824

2015 (through Dec. 8): 716

TOTAL: 9,519

Bevin administration

Dec. 8, 2015, through Oct. 5, 2016: 0

TOTAL: 0

Source: Kentucky Secretary of State