ALEXANDRIA, Va. – People For the American Way Foundation’s African American Ministers Leadership Council praised Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell for his support of restoring voting rights to Virginians with non-violent criminal convictions in their pasts and urged him to work quickly with the Virginia legislature to enact the proposal.

“Virginia’s law disenfranchising people who have served their time for criminal convictions is nothing but Jim Crow by another name,” said Rev. Gregory King Sr. of Russell Temple CME Church in Alexandria, a member of the African American Ministers Leadership Council. “A criminal justice system that disproportionately targets African Americans continues to punish those who want to rebuild their lives as engaged, productive citizens, even after they have served their time. It is a disgrace to Virginia that we are one of only four states left in the country with such a backward, unjust law, and I am thrilled that Gov. McDonnell has finally expressed support for ending it. Our legislature and governor must now work together quickly to end this form of entrenched discrimination and help hundreds of thousands of Virginians regain their full rights as citizens.”

The African American Ministers Leadership Council, a program of People For the American Way Foundation, is a network of African American clergy fighting for social justice across the United States.

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