Posted on 12/26/2007 6:21:34 AM PST by The Pack Knight
HIGH POINT - As a boy, Gary Don Holt would roam the woods with his father and uncles, hunting for rabbits.
It's been more than two decades since he had the chance. Arrested for marijuana possession in Onslow County in 1986, Holt is a convicted felon and must stay away from guns. When his father dies, he'll have to ask his sister to hold on to a family heirloom he has been promised: a shotgun passed from father to son for generations.
Holt's felony at the age of 21 has robbed him of much over the years: jobs, jury duty, promotions. Of all he's missed, not being able to hunt is one of the biggest sacrifices. Holt's father is getting old, and he'd like to shoot at critters in the woods with him once more.
Holt, a supervisor at a furniture warehouse in High Point, turned to Gov. Mike Easley to make that happen. Twice, he's asked Easley for a pardon. Twice, Easley has turned him down.
"It was like a sledgehammer hitting me," Holt said. "I've turned out so good. I thought there was no way he could turn me down."
Easley has heard pleas like Holt's before. Each year, a dozen or so would-be hunters beg Easley for pardons. Though a pardon wouldn't clean their records, it would give back certain privileges such as the ability to possess a firearm.
Among the recent requests: A Duplin County Boy Scout leader who sold marijuana in college wants the chance to hunt with his teenage son. A Dunn man who said he accidentally shot his girlfriend to death wants to hunt with his children. A 68-year-old homebuilder in Alamance County accused of taking indecent liberties with a girl wants to hunt one last time.
Easley has the power to forgive each one but is frugal with his pardons. Since he took office in 2001, he has pardoned five people, each one a man who had received prison time for crimes that another man committed. Former Gov. James Hunt, by contrast, handed out more than 200 pardons from 1992 to 2000.
Easley has never tipped his hand on his philosophy on pardons or explained why he won't grant them to people like Holt. A spokesman said last week that the governor considers each application on its own merits.
Despite the odds against being pardoned, felons still flood the executive office with requests. Some swear they didn't do the crime in the first place. Others complain they can't get the jobs they want. Others need it for self-respect. Some, like Holt, want credit for the good they've done in life since their crime.
"I feel like I'm still doing time for the crime, for 21 years," Holt said. "Don't you get to be done at some point?"
When police arrested him in 1986, Holt said he was immature and smoked pot recreationally. He would give it away to friends. Holt said one of the friends informed on him to get a break on a pending criminal charge.
Holt agreed to plead guilty and was put on probation. He said he had no idea the implications of a felony conviction.
"I thought it was a slap on the wrist," Holt said. "I was just grateful I wasn't going to prison."
Since then, Holt has put himself through community college and has become a certified emergency medical technician. He teaches martial arts to police officers for free and coaches his 9-year-old daughter's basketball team. His sisters, a colleague, friends and even his ex-wife wrote letters to the governor vouching for his good character.
"I feel I'm more than responsible to have a gun," he said.
Without a pardon, hunting is too big a risk. Federal law prohibits felons from owning, using or even handling any type of gun.
Holt's pardon request has evolved into a time-consuming campaign. He's traveled to Raleigh to try to meet with legislators about it. He has written more than 100 letters, lobbying officials to lean on the governor to grant a pardon. Holt calls the governor's clemency administrator so often she knows him by name. When he reads in the newspaper that Easley is coming to his area, Holt considers going to try to get his attention.
"If I had just five minutes with him, I could change his mind," Holt said. "He's a hunter. I know he knows what it's like."
Holt's second denial came this summer. Now, he must wait another three years to ask again, according to the governor's rules.
By then, Easley will be gone. A new governor will be in his place.
Holt's launching his campaign with the next governor already. He has written to each of the five candidates for governor, asking for mercy from whoever makes it to the Blount Street mansion.
These men were, for the most part, convicted of nonviolent felonies and they have paid their debts to society, yet they are denied one of the most basic rights guaranteed by both the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions.
Does selling pot in college really warrant a life sentence as a second-class citizen?
The problem is that you don’t know what crimes a felon has committed. All you know is that they’ve committed some.
The same guys who commit burglaries are the ones who commit murder and rape.
I’m a drunk driving felon. You never know when I might go on a shooting spree.
The one who shot and killed his girlfriend doesn’t deserve to have his gun rights reinstated.
No. But a guy blowing away his girlfriend might be a different story.
I wonder how angelic has been Easley over the course of his life.
Sorry, guys. No story here.
“The same guys who commit burglaries are the ones who commit murder and rape.”
and you know this how?
If you rights have been restored to be able to vote, you should be able to use a firearm. Maybe then Democrats would not be so quick to insist on voting rights for ex-felons.
On another note and certainly for the majority of Americans; there but for the Grace of God go we......Americans might be surprised at what constitutes a felony.
I know of a couple of ex cons who went to prison for things like breaking and entering when they were teenagers but have never committed another crime since leaving prison more than 20 years ago. One has held the same job he got the day after walking out of prison.
Perhaps prosecutors are interpreting it that way. If so, it needs to be challenged. In U.S. v Lopez, the supremes held that mere possession was not interstate commerce, so the U.S. had no jurisdiction.
It would be nice if all the court had integrity, instead of only half.
This isn’t an honest story. For some reason, the reporter doesn’t specify what the guy was actually charged with. He said he was “arrested” for marijuana possession. If I’m not mistaken, there are different levels of “possession”. Ie: “under an ounce”, “one ounce to 2 ounces”, “one big giant garbage bag full of dope pre-bagged in carefully measured lids ready for resale to small children”.
I should have said violent felons in my post. Sorry. Did not mean it as a slap at you or anyone with a non-violent record.
So, it would seem from this article that if you ever are convicted of a felony, the rest of your life the 2nd amendment does not cover you.
Do ex-felons get their other rights (1st, 4th, 5th amendments, etc.) taken away from them the rest of their life? No, of course not. Taking away 2nd amendment rights should not be AUTOMATIC with ALL types of felonies.
The implications of this are frightening. For example, what happens when hate crimes as a felony morphs (someday) into hate speech as a felony?
No bow season in NC?
I didn’t take it as a slap. We’re good.
I am irritated that illegal aliens with no “known” record can work in airports and on military installations but I can’t be trusted.
cripplecreek, glad you are able to vote, so am I and it’s time to put to rest the canard that felons cannot vote:
As of May 10, 2007 all 50 states allow felons to vote. Restrictions
apply in some states.
The two most restrictive are Kentucky, where voting rights can be
restored only when the Governor approves an application for an
executive pardon for reinstatement of voting rights from an
individual after completion of his/her sentence.
Mississippi, where An individual, after completion of their sentence,
must go to his or her state representative and convince them to
personally author a bill reenfranchising that individual. Both houses
of the legislature must then pass the bill, and the governor must
sign it. Each year about 10 to 12 people are re-enfranchised in
Mississippi.
25 states allow felons to vote after serving their sentences and
parole or supervised release, 13 states allow felons to vote as soon
as they leave prison, 2 states, (Maine and Vermont) allow
incarcerated felons to vote.
The other 8 states allow felons to vote with less severe restrictions
such as applying to county boards or waiting 2 to 5 years after
completion of sentence.
http://www.felonvotingprocon.org/pop/StateLaws.htm
Frankly, I’d trust a man with a gun long before I’d trust him with a vote. The vote’s the more dangerous of the two.
Think family in Connecticut...Mom and daughters raped then burned to death; father bludgeoned and left for dead in basement.
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