Florida to (NEARLY automatically what's that mean??) restore felons' civil rights

Clemency board votes to automatically restore felons' rights

By DAVID ROYSE
Associated Press Writer
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Most felons released from prison will have their voting and other civil rights nearly automatically restored under a rule approved Thursday by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and the state clemency board.

Like with most other things: Florida can't seem to get it quite right. Before I laud Governor Crist on this action, I'll have to know more. At least I call him Governor. That's more than JEBO666 ever got from me. Except in email. Which he DID answer.

All but the most violent felons would avoid the need to get on a long list for a hearing before the board, which sometimes takes years.

The board voted 3-1 with Attorney General Bill McCollum, another Republican, strongly objecting to changing the Jim Crow-era ban on felons automatically getting their rights back once they finish their sentences.

The issue was spotlighted after the disputed 2000 presidential election, when many non-convicts were purged from voter rolls because the state's felons database was plagued with errors.

Florida was one of three U.S. states along with Kentucky and Virginia that make felons take action to restore their civil rights. In most other states, those rights are restored once people completes their sentence, probation or parole.

About a million released offenders in Florida haven't regained rights that include voting, holding public office, the ability to serve on a jury, and eligibility for many occupational licenses.

Crist has made it clear since before he was governor that he was in favor of making it easier for felons who have done their time to vote. He pushed the measure forcefully, and rejected McCollum's assertion that it was welcoming the worst of the worst back into society too easily.

After someone has served their time, Crist said they should get their rights back as a matter of justice.

Still, Crist's plan was a compromise, carving out murderers and other violent felons who would still have to either go before the board for a hearing or at least be subject to review.

Voting with Crist for the plan were Republican Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson and state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat.

A recent federal lawsuit challenged Florida's rights ban on grounds that it disproportionately affected blacks. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument in 2005, noting Florida first banned felon voting in 1845 - before blacks were allowed to vote. The U.S. Supreme Court later let that decision stand.

The ban was put into the state constitution in 1868.