[News] Florida GOP Tries Again to Stop Black Voters

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Ex-felons face new twist in voting

Gov. Jeb Bush has decided to eliminate paper applications for felons
seeking to recover their civil rights, and attorneys assert that the move
will thwart thousands of potential voters.

BY DEBBIE CENZIPER AND JASON GROTTO - Miami Herald (July 23, 2004)

dcenziper at herald.com

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9220185.htm?ERIGHTS=-2045445275665236750miami::iapinfo@iap.org&KRD_RM=2kkokmpooiimkiiiiiiiikikkq|Islamic|Y

Days after a Florida appeals court demanded that the state provide more
help to felons who want their right to vote restored, Gov. Jeb Bush
introduced a new policy that civil rights advocates say circumvents the
will of the court and threatens to exclude tens of thousands of potential
voters.

Last week, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee unanimously
ruled that state prison officials must follow the law and provide newly
released felons the necessary paperwork and assistance to get their full
civil rights back.

That would include a one-page application for a formal hearing before the
Florida Clemency Board -- the only way an estimated 85 percent of felons
will ever get their rights restored.

But instead of providing the application, Bush decided to scrap it
altogether. On Wednesday, he announced that felons will now have to
contact the Office of Executive Clemency when and if they want to apply
for a hearing to have their rights restored.

Bush argues that the policy reduces paperwork and, therefore, provides the
ease and assistance demanded by the court.

Civil rights advocates say the decision will disfranchise thousands of
people in a state where more than 400,000 are already banned from voting.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the
Florida Justice Institute sued the state in 2001, saying the Department of
Corrections for years violated the law by not helping felons to make civil
rights applications. The Department has made changes since then but still
refuses to provide to outgoing inmates the one-page application needed for
a hearing.

Civil rights groups took the state to court to change the policy. Last
week, they declared victory. On Wednesday, they cried foul.

`CLEVER TACTIC'

''You have to hand it to the governor. It's a very clever legal tactic and
even more clever propaganda,'' said Howard Simon, executive director of
the ACLU in Florida. ``It's done under the guise of trying to simplify the
process and eliminate paperwork, but it just shows his true character.
It's completely disingenuous.''

BUSH'S RATIONALE

Bush and his staff, however, say eliminating the application and
requesting that felons call to request hearings simplifies the state's
clemency system and ensures that the agencies overseeing the process won't
be bogged down by paperwork.

''The bottom line is, this will streamline the process,'' said the
governor's spokesman, Jacob DiPietre. ``Once felons are notified that they
don't qualify for restoration without a hearing, all they have to do is
pick up the phone and call, send a letter or e-mail a request for a
hearing.''

Florida is one of just six states that permanently strip felons of the
right to vote. The Florida Clemency Board -- composed of the governor and
the Cabinet -- can reinstate a felon's right to vote.

There are two ways for ex-felons to get their rights restored. Depending
on their past crimes and other factors, they may qualify for restoration
through a paperless process without a hearing. Those rejected from that
process must go through a more complicated investigation and hearing
before the governor and his Cabinet.

STATE'S ARGUMENT

The state had argued that the Department of Corrections fulfilled its
legal obligation by electronically submitting the names of newly released
felons for consideration in the paperless process.

But civil rights advocates countered that the Department didn't go far
enough, because an overwhelming majority of felons are rejected from that
process. To get their rights back, they must apply for hearings.

Bush, however, has repeatedly refused to provide the one-page application
to felons before they leave custody.

Randall Berg, executive director of the Florida Justice Institute, argued
that if an application for a hearing was already on file, more people
would be ready and waiting for consideration.

''I think the governor thumbed his nose at the court order and showed
disrespect for the rule of law,'' he said.



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