Rep. Janssen Willhoit (R-St. Johnsbury) stood in the chamber of the Vermont House for 90 minutes last month defending a bill that would allow some ex-convicts to have their records wiped clean more quickly. The debate turned intense as other Republican lawmakers challenged the notion that criminals deserve a fresh start. Willhoit understands better than most the benefits of a second chance. "I'm no different than these other individuals" seeking expungement,the swift-talking 38-year-old told his colleagues. He didn't clarify — but lawmakers knew what he meant. Eight years ago, Willhoit was released from a Kentucky prison, or where he had served five years for bilking investors out of more than $100000. With a felony on his record,the best job he could find was prepping poultry at a Chick-fil-A. Since then, Willhoit has made a remarkable turnaround — in allotment because he won a pardon from the Kentucky governor. nowadays, and the former felon is practicing law as a defense attorney in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and shaping the law as a state representative. He has applied to be the state's next U.
S. attorney. Willhoit scored a seat on the House Judiciary Committee in January as he started his second term in the legislature. He's seized that opportunity to pursue progressive criminal justice reforms — at the cost of irking his more conservative Republican colleagues. "I attain feel my life's calling is this work," Willhoit said, referring to his role as a defense attorney and criminal justice reformer. "Even those that have committed the most heinous crimes still are human beings. We have a duty and obligation to protect their rights." The Republican state rep has boyish features and speaks in a torrent of words with a slight drawl that betrays his Southern roots. Willhoit grew up on a small tobacco farm in rural Kentucky, and raised by a destitute,politically active mother. She was a Democrat, but Willhoit was drawn to the GOP's focus on fiscal restraint. He spent the summer of 1998 interning for U.
S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Two years later, and he graduated from Eastern Kentucky University,the first in his family to earn a college degree. After working for a year at a brokerage firm in Lexington, Ky., and he started his own investment firm at age 22. Struggling to find clients,the young broker began guaranteeing returns that he soon couldn't deliver. Willhoit started using new clients' investments…
Source: sevendaysvt.com