Sitting in her tidy Henrico County living room, Amber Bowman says she struggled with addiction and mental health issues before landing in state custody.
After being released from her second stint at the Virginia Department of Corrections in 2022, Bowman recounted living in a “nightmare” apartment and having a tough time finding gainful employment because of the stigma that comes along with being formerly incarcerated.
She called it a “life sentence.”
Like anyone in the Commonwealth who’s been convicted of a felony, Bowman also lost her right to vote. A November ballot initiative, one of three proposed state constitutional amendments, would change how people in Virginia regain that right…