Former felons in Kentucky have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend!

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) signed an executive order into law that automatically restores voting rights to tens of thousands of nonviolent former felons who have served their time.

The executive order was announced at a press conference this past Tuesday. Beshear has been governor for eight years, which makes you wonder what took so long.

The Brennan Center for Justice says about 140,000 individuals are immediately eligible, and in time an additional 30,000 will be eligible.

The Huffington Post reports:

Kentucky has been one of a few states where individuals who have served their time had to individually apply to the governor to have their voting rights restored rather than having them restored automatically. Beshear said he hopes the legislature will put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to permanently automatically restore voting rights to individuals who have served their sentences. Matt Bevin, the Republican who beat out Democrat Attorney General Jack Conway to succeed Beshear as governor, has said in the past that he supports automatic restoration of voting rights.

While this event is great for the individual felons and their families who have had obstacle after obstacle thrown in their way after being convicted a nonviolent felony, it’s hard not to take into account the manner in which this liberty was granted. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that this restoration of voting rights came from the people, as it did not originate from passed legislation, but rather from the pen of the Governor’s Executive Order.

This likely means that the people of Kentucky are at best indifferent to the prospect of restoring the rights of nonviolent felons, and at worst they are outright opposed to it. This is disturbing on many levels.

Many of these nonviolent felons landed in jail as a result of the War on Drugs. Luckily Governor Beshear decided to restore these former felons right to vote. However, it is important to remember that this change was not initiated by the legislator and by extension the people of Kentucky.

As a result of the manner in which this outcome was derived, it seems reasonable to assume that a majority in the state are at best indifferent to former nonviolent felons voting and it is likely that a majority of people in the state still back the drug laws that forced nonviolent offenders behind bars to begin with.

For this reason it is hard to see this Executive Order as significant progress. Sure, it’s great that these felons have an important right restored. But true progress should be measured by the changes we see in the hearts and minds of the people. In this instance in Kentucky it is difficult to see any tangible changes in people who led to this Executive Order being signed.

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