Who Let the Dogs Out?

In April 2016, Gov. Terry McAuliffe committed an act of populism so transparent that it was overturned by the Supreme Court of Virginia that July. He claimed that since the Virginia Constitution gave his office the role of restoring individuals’ voting rights after their sentences were completed, he could issue an executive order restoring civil and voting rights to more than 200,000 Virginians with completed felony sentences.

Needless to say, the press covered the story as if he were the U.S. Army liberating France. What he left out, and what the press left out of the story, was that the existing process already made it possible to get your voting rights restored after undergoing a review to be sure you had truly reformed. Terry’s way did it without any review, and that was when the trouble began.

I bring this up because, since then, the idea that felons cannot get their voting rights back has put down roots like a weed in your driveway. Then the Virginia General Assembly put automatic restoration on the ballot in 2026 as Question 3, the third proposed constitutional amendment. And, as a tribute to Terry, Virginia’s current governor, Abigail Spanberger, restored the rights of about 66,000 Virginians in time to vote in the midterms and, presumably, for the constitutional amendment.

Ten years ago, reports emerged almost immediately about people covered by McAuliffe’s mass voter amnesty, including many who had been rearrested and two who were then on the FBI’s most wanted list.

This year, because history might not repeat itself, but it rhymes, former Del. Tim Anderson found one voting-rights restoration letter addressed to “Betty No Last Name.” He told Fox News Digital that it proves that Spanberger’s office isn’t even reading these before sending them out.

Now comes the story of “Biscuit Rigsby,” who received a similar letter from the governor about her voting rights. According to her delegate, Tom Garrett, Biscuit Rigsby has been dead for five years and, before her death, not only had never been convicted of a felony but also was a beagle-hound mix residing with a family in Goochland County.

The family forwarded the letter to Garrett.

Garrett told me that the specific language used in the letter is based on the Supreme Court of Virginia’s 2016 ruling in Howell v. McAuliffe.

“In every letter it says, ‘having reviewed the particulars in your case Individually,’ right that is not by accident. What that tells you is Gov. Spanberger’s administration knew quite well the law and lied with intent to violate the law.”

Perhaps this is why we ask petitioners to go through the review. Just sayin’.

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