Chances and Choices

I didn't vote in the last three Presidential elections, or any elections for that matter, since 2002. Not out of apathy or laziness, but because legally I couldn't. Because in 2003 I became a convicted felon. Now this may be news to a lot of you, in fact, lots of family members will find out for the first time when they read this post. My closest friends and family at that time were there for the whole story and helped support me through the entire mess, and for the most part I've just tried to put it behind me. But since 2003 I have had to list it on every application I've filled out, every official document has had that little box checked. I've had to explain myself countless times and tell the story over and over again. I also had to resign myself to the fact that I wasn't able to vote. When Obama won (TWICE!) I was so freaking happy and yet still so sad that I hadn't been able to cast my own vote for him. So what did I do to become a felon you ask? Nothing, actually. I took a plea bargain for a crime I did not commit. There was an overwhelming paper trail of evidence pointing to me and I was, in fact, facing 10 felony counts. I accepted a plea bargain in which I had to plead guilty to one count of grand larceny and would serve no jail time, just one year of supervised probation. As someone who had worked in the prison system for two years, I was not about to take my chances against a judicial system that I had seen operate from the inside. Instead of fighting a battle in court that was NOT in my favor, I took the deal. I almost choked on the word "Guilty" when it was time for me to plead. It went against everything I am to lie and say I had done something I knew perfectly well I had not done. It was a matter of sacrificing my pride to salvage my future. And so I did. Here is what happened to put me in that position...

My place of employment at the time was a thriving, busy salon. I had worked there for two years, managing the front desk. This salon had about 6-8 computers that functioned as registers scattered throughout its' large square footage. In order to complete a transaction an employee had to be logged in under their own personal ID. We were supposed to log out every time we left a computer, but as anyone who has had their FB account hacked by a friend or co-worker knows, people don't always do that. Long story short, someone was deleting cash transactions that had been rung in under my name and pocketing the money. About $1600 over the course of 6 months. When I was questioned about all of these deleted transactions rung under MY ID, I was shocked, hurt and angry. Of course I denied it, but in the end, I was fired, and two weeks later two detectives showed up at my new job and arrested me. Did you know that any amount over $200 constitutes Grand Larceny? I learned that when I was facing a combination of grand larceny and computer fraud charges. I cannot begin to explain the terror and sense of hopelessness I felt at that point in my life.  By the way, after the trial where I became the scapegoat and the "criminal" had been found, money continued to be stolen from the salon, in various ways.  At that point an "I told you so" wouldn't have done any good and I was already convicted.

A couple of months ago, the governor of VA granted restoration of rights to a large number of convicted felons who had completed their terms and probations. I was one of those felons. I received my voter registration card in the mail today and I pretty much haven't stopped crying since. This year, in this most important of Presidential elections, I will get to cast my vote. I will vote against tyranny and hatred and bigotry. I strongly encourage all of you who can vote to do so. Don't take that right for granted. Don't say your vote doesn't count. For those who don't agree with the Governor's decision, remember that you don't know everyone's story. Mine may not change your mind or elicit any sympathy and that is ok; we can all believe as we choose. But there are those who were innocent, there are those who were nonviolent offenders and there are those who made mistakes but have served their time and deserve to participate fully in the society that governs them. See you at the polls. I'll be the one crying.