NAACP "Deeply Disappointed" in Kaine's Voting Rights Decision

I agree 100% with the NAACP on this one.

State and national NAACP officials say they are disappointed that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will not sign an executive order to restore the rights of about 300,000 felons.

[...]

The Rev. Rayfield Vines, president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference, said he is "deeply disappointed" by Kaine's decision.

"The constitution of Virginia and the code of Virginia gives the Governor of Virginia the discretionary power to do this," Vines said.

"Governor Kaine missed an important opportunity to leave a legacy that reverses discrimination and disenfranchisement and advance our state's democracy in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln."

Yes, Kaine most certainly did miss "an important opportunity" here. Kaine can cite all the legalistic rationales he wants, but I don't buy them for a minute. The bottom line is that Kaine could have done this but chose not to. A huge mistake to end Kaine's governorship. Sigh.

P.S. In other felon-related news, Kaine also decided to transfer a convicted murder to Germany, where he apparently will be paroled in 2 years.

Bedford County officials and families of the victims objected strongly Friday when they learned that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine had approved a transfer for Jens Soering, convicted of the 1985 murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom, to a German prison.

“By God, if there’s anything I can do while I’m still alive, I want it stopped,” said Risque Benedict, brother of Nancy Haysom. “We are horrified by this.”

State Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, called it “fairly devastating news to Bedford County” and said he and other officials were pursuing a strategy to see whether “this decision of Governor Kaine is revocable.”

Maybe I'm missing something here, but this doesn't sound good at all.