Judge orders Gov. Scott, Cabinet to create system to restore felons voting rights

[Gothmog]

Felon voting rights will be on the ballot for the Nov. general election but this ruling may be a better solution for the restoration of voting rights for citizens who have served their sentence http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article207063494.html

A judge on Tuesday ordered Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet to dismantle Florida’s “fatally flawed” system of arbitrarily restoring voting rights to felons and to replace it by April 26.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee issued a permanent injunction in support of the Fair Elections Legal Network, which sued the state a year ago. The group successfully challenged the constitutionality of the state’s 150-year-old voting rights restoration process for felons in the nation’s third-largest state.

“This is a victory for the principle that the right to vote cannot be subjected to officials’ gut instincts and whims,” said Jon Sherman, senior counsel for the nonprofit voting rights group. “We are also heartened that the court prevented Florida from following through on its threat to be the only state in the nation with an irrevocable lifetime ban on voting for all former felons — what the court called ‘the ultimate arbitrary act.’ ”

A spokesman for Scott issued a statement that defended the current system.

[procon]

1. Good!

Once a person has paid their debt to society, they are returned to enjoy all the benefits of living in a free society. No one should be disenfranchised as means of state sponsored discrimination or retaliation after they are cleared.

This was just another blatant effort in the GOP grab bag of dirty tricks to continue voter suppression tactics intended to squelch likely Democratic voters.

[Gothmog]

2. I was shocked to find that Texas is actually very liberal on this issue

A felon's voting rights are restored when they are "off papers" which means not on probation.

[Gothmog]

3. Rick Scott has a month to come up with system to restore felon voting rights

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