{"id":2322015,"date":"2024-08-09T14:51:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T18:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-denies-challenge-to-youngkins-voting-rights-restoration-process-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T14:55:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T18:55:03","slug":"court-denies-challenge-to-youngkins-voting-rights-restoration-process-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-denies-challenge-to-youngkins-voting-rights-restoration-process-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Court denies challenge to Youngkin\u2019s voting rights restoration process &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-denies-challenge-to-youngkins-voting-rights-restoration-process-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2322015&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A\u200b court has dismissed a challenge to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin&#8217;s process for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vulnerable-house-democrats-ignore-voters-concerns\/\" title=\"Vulnerable House Democrats Ignore Voters\u2019 Concerns\">restoring voting rights<\/a>\u200c to \u200dindividuals with felony convictions, stating it was filed under the incorrect legal \u2063section. However, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia criticized Youngkin&#8217;s approach, noting it lacks transparency and fairness. The\u2064 court described the governor&#8217;s method as reminiscent\u200d of\u2064 a monarch,\u2064 as he processes petitions without providing any\u200c explanation. Youngkin&#8217;s\u200d administration has been noted for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-signs-voting-rights-legislation-for-ex-cons-and-teens\/\" title=\"Gov. Whitmer approves voting rights bill for former convicts and teenagers\">restoring \u2062rights<\/a> to significantly fewer individuals compared to previous governors, leading to criticism for not \u200destablishing clear criteria for \u200crestoration.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Court denies challenge to Youngkin&rsquo;s voting rights restoration process<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1727102\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/courts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>court<\/a> has denied a challenge to Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/glenn-youngkin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Glenn Youngkin&rsquo;s<\/a> (R-VA) process for restoring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>voting<\/a> rights for people convicted of a felony and ruled it was filed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/true-crime-dr-death-comes-to-texas\/\" title=\"True Crime: \u2018Dr. Death\u2019 Comes To Texas\">wrong section<\/a> of the law.<\/p>\n<p>However, the court did criticize the governor&rsquo;s use of power in the only state in the country that permanently strips civil rights away from felons.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No one would suggest that Gov. Youngkin&rsquo;s &lsquo;fully implemented&rsquo; system is transparent, or that it gives the appearance of fairness,&rdquo; the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found in a ruling issued Wednesday and signed by District Judge John A. Gibney Jr.<\/p>\n<p>Youngkin&rsquo;s method of receiving petitions for relief and deciding whether to rule on them without any explanation is &ldquo;much like a monarch,&rdquo; the court said, but nonetheless, &ldquo;transparency and the appearance of fairness are not the issues in this case.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Virginia&rsquo;s governor has been harsher than the state&rsquo;s past three governors in restoring rights to felons. Youngkin has only restored rights to a fraction of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/are-covid-case-surges-more-fake-news\/\" title=\"Are COVID Case Surges More Fake News?\">people compared<\/a> to past governors in the state, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2024\/08\/08\/virginia-youngkin-rights-felony-suit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>according<\/a> to the <em>Washington Post<\/em>. He&rsquo;s been criticized for not setting out clear guidelines as to whose rights are restored and whose aren&rsquo;t.<\/p>\n<p>The original lawsuit challenged whether Youngkin violated the First Amendment rights of George Hawkins, who is a felon and has been twice denied the restoration of his rights. His case was filed by the Fair Elections Center, a D.C.-based voting rights organization, and the law firm Victor M. Glasberg &amp; Associates. The case contended that Hawkins&rsquo;s denial was akin to being improperly denied a permit for making a speech in a public place.<\/p>\n<p>Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez told the outlet via text message that the governor &ldquo;is pleased with the court&rsquo;s ruling, which affirmed the Commonwealth&rsquo;s argument and upheld Virginia&rsquo;s restoration of rights program.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hawkins has vowed to appeal. Another lawsuit from the ACLU of Virginia claims the state&rsquo;s disenfranchisement of people convicted of any felony violates a 150-year-old statute passed as a condition of Virginia rejoining the Union after the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>One of the state&rsquo;s top Democratic lawmakers, House Speaker Don Scott, who served time in federal prison, has aimed to take the rights restoration out of Youngkin&rsquo;s control with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amid-recall-threat-ca-gov-newsom-unveils-largest-state-tax-rebate-in-american-history\/\" title=\"Amid Recall Threat, CA Gov. Newsom Unveils \u2018Largest State Tax Rebate In American History\u2019\">state constitutional amendment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1727102\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1727102\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A court has rejected a challenge to Governor Glenn Youngkin&#8217;s (R-VA) method for restoring voting rights to individuals with felony convictions, stating that the lawsuit was submitted under an incorrect legal section. Nonetheless, the court expressed disapproval of the governor&#8217;s exercise of authority in Virginia, the only state that permanently revokes civil rights from felons. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia noted in its ruling on Wednesday, signed by District Judge John A. Gibney Jr., that &#8220;no one would argue&#8221; that Youngkin\u2019s system is transparent or appears fair. The court likened his approach to handling petitions for relief and making decisions without explanation to that of a monarch but clarified that issues of transparency and fairness were not central to this case.<\/p>\n<p>Youngkin has been more stringent than his three predecessors regarding the restoration of rights for felons, having restored them to significantly fewer individuals compared to previous governors, as reported by the Washington Post. He faces criticism for failing to establish clear criteria regarding which rights are restored.<\/p>\n<p>The initial lawsuit challenged whether Youngkin infringed upon George Hawkins&#8217; First Amendment rights; Hawkins is a felon who has been denied restoration twice. This case was brought forth by the Fair Elections Center and Victor M. Glasberg &amp; Associates, arguing that Hawkins\u2019 denial resembled an improper refusal of a permit for public speech.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for Youngkin, stated via text message that the governor is satisfied with the ruling affirming Virginia\u2019s restoration program. However, Hawkins plans to appeal this decision.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, another lawsuit filed by ACLU of Virginia argues that disenfranchising individuals convicted of any felony violates a 150-year-old statute established when Virginia rejoined the Union post-Civil War. House Speaker Don Scott\u2014a leading Democratic lawmaker who has served time in federal prison\u2014aims to remove control over rights restoration from Youngkin through a proposed state constitutional amendment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2322016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Youngkin-Trump.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4733,32570,15109],"class_list":["post-2322015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-court","tag-voting-rights","tag-youngkin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Youngkin-Trump.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2322015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2322016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2322015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2322015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2322015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}