‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

Except for me, writing Felony Friday for our dedicated readers

Hopeful that I’m helping to motivate future liberty leaders.

Merry Christmas liberty lovers! That’s all I have from a rhyming standpoint today. Now let’s get down to business!

This week we’re going to follow-up on a story in Kentucky that I first covered around Thanksgiving. It was just about a month ago that then Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) signed an executive order into law that automatically restored voting rights to tens of thousands of nonviolent felons.

In the article I hinted that this new found freedom for felons may not last, due to the fact that the governor had to use an executive order to grant the 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.

Unfortunately, it turns out that I was correct. Newly-elected Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) reversed Beshear’s executive order because he believed it’s an issue that should be addressed through the legislative process.

Talking Points Memo reports:

Though Bevin had previously voiced support for former Gov. Steve Beshear’s campaign to enfranchise ex-convicts, he said in a prepared statement that this “is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people.” The Associated Press reported that Kentucky is one of four states that doesn’t automatically restore offenders’ voting rights after their sentences are completed. The state constitution deprives former felons of the right to vote, hold public office, own a gun or serve on a jury.

It’s disappointing that Governor Bevin decided to overturn the executive order signed by his predecessor, but it is not surprising. In this case, the change was not initiated by the people.

The right to vote and participate in a democratic system of government is important. However, there is another right, which a felon generally doesn’t have access to after serving their sentence that is of exceeding importance. The right to bear arms is the most prominent of rights that a government in civilized society should protect and restore once an individual has served their time.

Currently, in most states felons are forbidden from owning a modern firearm.

The message broadcast by “authorities” to felons with firearm prohibition could be interpreted to mean that the government and members of society do not believe that a felon’s life is significant enough to warrant protections granted to all free men.

This is unacceptable.

If a society concludes that an individual should not own a firearm because the nature of their crime makes them too dangerous, then they should not be let out of jail in the first place. We currently have irrational laws where “reformed criminals” are released on the streets without the same protections afforded to all other individuals in society.

A man cannot truly be free if he is stripped of the legal right to defend his life and property. Proponents for felon firearm prohibition will claim that the policy keeps everyone safer, but that’s simply not true. If a felon, upon release from prison, wanted to track down an illegal firearm to they would have minimal issues finding a weapon, especially considering the connections they likely made while locked up.

So let’s not just restore voting rights to felons, let’s restore the right to bear arms too!

*Felony Friday Update:

I do my best to follow-up on previously reported stories and update the outcome when possible, but with the current format of Felony Friday, there just isn’t enough space to talk about current events and follow-up on prior stories.

This is one of the reasons why we have decided to change how we deliver your Felony Friday news each and every week. Starting in January of 2016 the Felony Friday column will be transitioning to the Felony Friday Podcast! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the Lions of Liberty Podcast has it’s very first spinoff! With the edition of the Felony Friday Podcast to the lineup, the Lions of Liberty Podcast will expand to three times per week.

Every Friday we will devote an entire podcast to talking about felonies. Sometimes we’ll strictly discuss current felonies, and other times I’ll be joined by interesting guests who have unique stories and perspectives on the criminal justice system. During the last final edition of the semi-regular Felony Report segment on the Lions of Liberty Podcast, Marc and I discussed these changes and teased the format of the Felony Friday Podcast – check it out!



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