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U.S. District Judge Mark Walker has ruled that Florida's system for restoration of voting and other civil rights to convicted felons is unconstitutional. Florida is likely to appeal the ruling:
A federal judge has declared unconstitutional Florida's procedure for restoring voting rights to felons who have served their time. In a strongly worded ruling seen as a rebuke of Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is the lead defendant in the case, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said the disenfranchisement of felons who have served their time is "nonsensical" and a violation of the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Although nearly every state bars incarcerated criminals from voting, only Florida and three others — Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia — do not automatically restore voting rights at the completion of a criminal sentence.
Walker, an Obama administration appointee, decried the state's requirement that someone with a felony conviction must "kowtow" to a partisan panel, the Office of Executive Clemency, "over which Florida's governor has absolute veto authority" to regain their right to vote. "[Elected], partisan officials have extraordinary authority to grant or withhold the right to vote from hundreds of thousands of people without any constraints, guidelines, or standards," the judge said. [...] The judge cited one clemency hearing where Scott announced the panel "can do whatever we want" as evidence of its arbitrary nature.
Last month, Floridians for a Fair Democracy reached the signature threshold needed to get a constitutional amendment onto the 2018 ballot that would end the disenfranchisement of 1.5 million Floridians with past felony convictions.
Also at the Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel:
Walker blasted Florida's process at length, writing that it makes felons "kowtow" to a board that can accept or deny their application for any reason. "A person convicted of a crime may have long ago exited the prison cell and completed probation. Her voting rights, however, remain locked in a dark crypt," Walker wrote. "Only the state has the key — but the state has swallowed it. Only when the state has digested and passed that key in the unforeseeable future, maybe in five years, maybe in 50, ... does the state, in an 'act of mercy' unlock the former felon's voting rights from its hiding place."
(Score: 3, Funny) by KiloByte on Sunday February 04 2018, @05:07AM (3 children)
On the other hand, it's interesting that the party bias among actual crooks is so strong that Ds vs Rs fight tooth-and-nail here.
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by DrkShadow on Sunday February 04 2018, @06:14AM (2 children)
Florida has a population of 20.5 million (according to Google). Florida has a population of 1.5 million felons.
What does it say that 1 in 13 people of your state are felons? Seems to say a _LOT_ about the law.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 04 2018, @05:20PM (1 child)
Are you saying we should change the law so so many people do not end up with felonies because it makes them feel bad? OK let's start with that pesky thing known as armed robbery, let's just class that as a misdemeanor with 60 hours of community service as maximum punishment. Aggravated assault? Why not! After all, what is more aggravating than being jailed: NOTHING! What else can we do away with? Maybe fraud, I mean there is no real victims there, as there is no such thing as private property in our Utopia. How can you be fleeced of some thing you should have no right to own in the first place! And let's do away with rapes of all kinds, that's just rough, kinky sex. And legalize all drugs. This will allow the police to focus on the real terrible crimes like bigotry and racism!
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 05 2018, @01:32AM
More likely victimless drug offenses