Current Events > Federal judge rules Florida's lifetime ban on felons voting is unconstitutional

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article197932309.html

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Floridas lifetime ban on restoring voting rights for felons violates the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said Floridas vote restoration process unfairly relies on the personal support of Gov. Rick Scott for citizens to regain this fundamental right.

Walker ruled in a case brought by the Fair Elections Legal Network, a Washington, D.C., group that challenged the constitutionality of the Florida system.

Walkers decision came nine days after the state approved a ballot measure that, if passed in November, would restore the voting rights of about 1.2 million felons.

The ruling was a rejection of a 2011 vote by Scott and the Florida Cabinet, then composed of Attorney General Pam Bondi, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. They agreed to impose a waiting period of five to seven years to begin a process that would allow felons to apply for restoration of rights.

The vote overturned a measure by former Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007 that revised the states rules on clemency. It created automatic rights restoration for people completing sentences for certain felony convictions.

---

bump
---

Why do you post on an alt and come back with your main?

Why not just use your main?
---

It's nice to see something done to give felons more of a voice, considering how badly our current system screws them over.
---

LightningAce11 posted...

Why do you post on an alt and come back with your main?

Why not just use your main?

Only allowed 10 topics per account per day
---

Tmaster148 posted...

It's nice to see something done to give felons more of a voice, considering how badly our current system screws them over.

Erm, pretty sure it's felons screwing THEMSELVES over by, you know, committing felonies?
---

I totally support felons having the right to vote. The fact that one of the most fundamental tenets of our democracy was ever restricted like that is crazy. What'll be interesting is to see if, as a demographic, they lean overwhelmingly toward one party.
---

r4X0r posted...

Tmaster148 posted...

It's nice to see something done to give felons more of a voice, considering how badly our current system screws them over.

Erm, pretty sure it's felons screwing THEMSELVES over by, you know, committing felonies?

....No one said otherwise. Its just that the system in regards to rehabilitation and helping them find success afterwards (jobs, staying out of the legal system) is pretty terrible.

As it stands right now, the prison system (not even getting into privatized prisons)is based off punishment and not rehabilitation and keep recidivism rates low
---

r4X0r posted...

Tmaster148 posted...

It's nice to see something done to give felons more of a voice, considering how badly our current system screws them over.

Erm, pretty sure it's felons screwing THEMSELVES over by, you know, committing felonies?

And they serve their punishment in jail. The issue arises when after they are released they find it hard to get back into society which only causes them to commit crimes to survive.

There's no need to double punish someone for an act.
---

I actually can't come up with anything that keeping felons from voting could be supposed to achieve.

Unless they're felons because of some kind of fraud maybe.
---