As Virginians prepare to vote on Question 3 this November, much of the conversation will understandably focus on voting rights, felony convictions and the Virginia Constitution. But I believe there is another part of this discussion that deserves attention: What happens to a person after incarceration ends?
I ask that question because rebuilding a life after incarceration is something I understand personally. When I returned home, I had to make decisions about the kind of man I wanted to become and what I wanted my life to represent. I could not change my past. I could only take responsibility for it, learn from it and decide what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
Rebuilding did not happen overnight. It required discipline, education, employment, personal responsibility and a willingness to keep moving forward even when opportunities were limited. It required me to rebuild relationships and earn trust. Most importantly, it required me to understand that coming home was about much more than simply being released from incarceration. It was about becoming a productive member of my community.
Over the years, I have also had the opportunity to work with many other returning citizens as they attempted to make that same transition. I have watched men and women come home determined to change their lives. I have seen them search for jobs, reconnect with their children, look for stable housing, pursue education and treatment, and try to establish themselves as responsible members of society. I have also seen how difficult that process can be.
When we talk about reentry, we often talk about employment, housing, substance-use treatment, mental health services, education and public safety. Those things are extremely important. But there is another part of successful reentry that we should not overlook: belonging to the community again. That is where I believe the conversation surrounding Question 3 deserves thoughtful consideration.
Question 3 asks Virginia voters to decide whether people convicted of felonies should automatically regain their political rights, including voting rights, after they are released from incarceration, rather than continuing to depend upon a separate restoration process. Regardless of where someone stands on that question, we should understand what is really being discussed.
We are talking about people returning to our neighborhoods. We are talking about mothers and fathers returning to their families. We are talking about people we expect to find jobs, pay taxes, obey the law and contribute to their communities. We are talking about people being asked to become citizens in every practical sense of the word.
My own life has taught me that a person’s worst decisions do not necessarily have to determine the rest of that person’s life. Accountability matters. Consequences matter. Public safety matters. But so does what happens next.
I have spent years working with returning citizens because I believe successful reentry benefits everyone. When people returning from incarceration find employment, establish stability, reconnect with family and become invested in their communities, our communities become stronger.
That does not mean forgetting the harm caused by crime. It does not mean ignoring victims or minimizing personal responsibility. Successful reentry actually requires responsibility. It requires a person to say: I cannot change what I did yesterday, but I am responsible for what I do tomorrow.
That philosophy has played an important role in my own journey. My life after incarceration has been about rebuilding, learning, serving and trying to use my experiences to help someone else avoid the mistakes I made or successfully navigate the difficult road home. That journey has convinced me that reentry cannot simply be about opening the prison door. We must decide what we expect people to become after they walk through it.
Question 3 gives Virginians an opportunity to have that larger conversation. People will approach the amendment from different perspectives, and they should. This is an important constitutional question, and every voter should understand exactly what a yes or no vote means before making a decision.
But I hope that as Virginians consider Question 3, we also consider the people behind the policy. I hope we think about the person who has returned home and is trying to get that first job. The father trying to reconnect with his children. The mother trying to find stable housing. The person sitting in a classroom trying to earn a degree. The returning citizen trying to prove that the person who came home is not the same person who went away.
I know something about that journey. I also know what can happen when someone is given an opportunity to rebuild. For me, coming home was not the conclusion of my story. It was the beginning of a new one.
And perhaps that is one of the most important things Virginians should think about as we consider Question 3: What do we believe should happen after someone has served their period of incarceration and comes home ready to build a different life?
That is a question worth asking — not just for returning citizens, but for the future of our communities and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
