Florida can't bar felons from registering to vote over fees and fines, court rules

Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by hyrojoshi

Florida cannot bar felons who served their time from registering to vote simply because they have failed to pay all fines and fees stemming from their cases, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tallahassee federal judge's preliminary injunction that the implementation of Amendment 4 – approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 to allow most felons who served their time to regain the right to vote – amounted to an unfair poll tax that would disenfranchise many of them.

A spokeswoman for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said the state will immediately ask the entire 11th Circuit to reconsider the ruling. In addition, a full trial on the issue is set to begin this spring.

The GOP-led Legislature and DeSantis last year approved an implementation law for the constitutional amendment stating that only felons who have completed all conditions of their sentences should be allowed to vote. He and GOP lawmakers say that to regain the right to vote, felons must not only serve their prison time but also pay all fines and other legal financial obligations.

That was challenged in federal court by voting rights groups representing 17 plaintiffs seeking to overturn the law

As many as 1.6 million Florida felons who have completed their prison sentences could regain voting privileges under Amendment 4.

freshgeardude on February 19th, 2020 at 21:19 UTC »

Since it wasn't in the article, I will include here. This is the text of the amendment that was voted for in Florida.

No. 4 Constitutional Amendment Article VI, Section 4. Voting Restoration Amendment This amendment restores the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation. The amendment would not apply to those convicted of murder or sexual offenses, who would continue to be permanently barred from voting unless the Governor and Cabinet vote to restore their voting rights on a case by case basis.

Emphasis in bold is mine. This is where the disagreement comes from. Do fines and repayment, as part of a sentencing for a crime, count as "all terms of their sentence including parole or probation"?

_AlreadyTaken_ on February 19th, 2020 at 18:58 UTC »

As many as 1.6 million Florida felons who have completed their prison sentences could regain voting privileges under Amendment 4.

That is a pretty good chunk of the population. As of 2018 FL's population was 21.3 million. That means about 7.5% of the population has been disenfranchised.

DumbStupidBrain on February 19th, 2020 at 17:25 UTC »

Just to make sure it's clear, we're talking felons that have served their time and are now out of jail and back in society. People that have fully served their punishment as dictated by the legal system yet were still unable to participate in democracy.

So ridiculous that the amendment that passed through all the proper channels and passed by a popular vote was still attempted to be stopped by the governor. Infuriating.