Federal judge guts Florida law requiring felons to pay fines before they can vote

[pppolitics]

A federal judge has gutted a Florida state law requiring felons to pay all court fines and fees before they can register to vote, clearing the way for thousands of Floridians to register in time for the November presidential election.

Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pushed the measure after Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 to expand voting rights to felons who have completed “all terms of their sentence including probation and parole.”

The law’s backers said it was necessary to clarify the amendment, while critics said Republicans were trying to limit the effects of what would have been the largest expansion of the state’s electorate since poll taxes and literacy tests were outlawed during the civil rights era.

The law, critics said, had made it virtually impossible for most felons to register, either because of an inability to pay or because the state offered no way for them to know what they owed or whether they had already paid.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle agreed, likening the restrictive legislation to a tax and concluding that the state had not created a system that would allow felons to identify their financial obligations.

“The Twenty-Fourth Amendment precludes Florida from conditioning voting in federal elections on payment of these fees and costs,” wrote Hinkle, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton, referring to the constitutional amendment that bans poll taxes.

Hinkle did not find, however, that the law intentionally discriminated on the basis of race, as the plaintiffs had argued, because of the disproportionate number of African Americans among the state’s population of felons.

Hinkle’s order requires the state to tell felons whether they are eligible to vote and what they owe. It also requires the state to allow any felon to register if they are not given an answer within 21 days. No one will face perjury charges for registering and voting through this process, he ordered.

[...]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-judge-guts-florida-law-requiring-felons-to-pay-fines-before-they-can-vote/2020/05/24/a7f553ba-9c3a-11ea-a2b3-5c3f2d1586df_story.html?utm_source=reddit.com

[Pulaski]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

[Dr. Arch]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

[Pulaski]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

[Dr. Arch]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

[Pulaski]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

[Virginiá]

To be fair, most states allow felons to vote after parole/probation, and many even after just probation:

https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-map

The number of states that permanently disenfranchise is very small, and one of them, Virginia, is only permanent in name only, since McAuliffe and Northam after him began restoring rights en masse to almost everyone. So I'd venture a guess that the total number of felons who are currently disenfranchised nationwide is considerably smaller than the total felon population.

At any rate, this is great news. Unfortunately, and you can call me pessimistic, but I have a hard time seeing the USSC letting this stand, even though the 24th amendment seems pretty clear on requiring fees to vote in federal elections. The Roberts court has taken a rather unambiguous stand against voting rights.

[Orwell]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

Florida had 1.5 million disenfranchised voters 23% of them were African American, so yea if it's just a "fraction" it is a massive fraction and 25% of all in the nation.

[they don't love you like i love you]

To be fair, most states allow felons to vote after parole/probation, and many even after just probation:

https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-map

The number of states that permanently disenfranchise is very small, and one of them, Virginia, is only permanent in name only, since McAuliffe and Northam after him began restoring rights en masse to almost everyone. So I'd venture a guess that the total number of felons who are currently disenfranchised nationwide is considerably smaller than the total felon population.

At any rate, this is great news. Unfortunately, and you can call me pessimistic, but I have a hard time seeing the USSC letting this stand, even though the 24th amendment seems pretty clear on requiring fees to vote in federal elections. The Roberts court has taken a rather unambiguous stand against voting rights.

Beshear signed an executive order restoring rights in Kentucky en masse too and petitioning for it is still possible. Gov. Culver was doing that in Iowa too so the issue with Iowa is just the Republican governors.

[Dr. Arch]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

Florida had 1.5 million disenfranchised voters 23% of them were African American, so yea if it's just a "fraction" it is a massive fraction and 25% of all in the nation.

Yes, and about 3 million Puerto Ricans are in the same position. And yes, Puerto Rico is in the country too.

This ruling is a good thing, of course, but I won't let people forget that Puerto Rico is a part of the country too, and in a similar position as felons in the mainland, crime or no crime.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

This is good news, and I am praying that this will stand.  Indeed, I am praying for Gov. DeSantis and AG Moody to not appeal this decision.

The decision does not "gut Florida Law".  It throws out an unreasonable interpretation of Amendment 4 that creates a poll tax.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

Florida had 1.5 million disenfranchised voters 23% of them were African American, so yea if it's just a "fraction" it is a massive fraction and 25% of all in the nation.

Yes, and about 3 million Puerto Ricans are in the same position. And yes, Puerto Rico is in the country too.

This is broadly a good thing, of course, but I won't let people forget that Puerto Rico is a part of the country too, and in a similar position as felons in the mainland, crime or no crime.

Puerto Rico is not a state.  It can be, but Puerto Rico, for most of its history, has opted to maintain its present status.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

Florida had 1.5 million disenfranchised voters 23% of them were African American, so yea if it's just a "fraction" it is a massive fraction and 25% of all in the nation.

Yes, and about 3 million Puerto Ricans are in the same position. And yes, Puerto Rico is in the country too.

This is broadly a good thing, of course, but I won't let people forget that Puerto Rico is a part of the country too, and in a similar position as felons in the mainland, crime or no crime.

Puerto Rico is not a state.  It can be, but Puerto Rico, for most of its history, has opted to maintain its present status in plebacites. 

[brucejoel99]

This is good news, and I am praying that this will stand.  Indeed, I am praying for Gov. DeSantis and AG Moody to not appeal this decision.

The decision does not "gut Florida Law".  It throws out an unreasonable interpretation of Amendment 4 that creates a poll tax.

Technically speaking, it actually did both, as it overturned the provisions of the Amendment 4 implementing bill (SB 7066) that required people with felony convictions to pay off legal financial obligations before they could register to vote.

So it's a "por que no los dos?" situation.

[Dr. Arch]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

Florida had 1.5 million disenfranchised voters 23% of them were African American, so yea if it's just a "fraction" it is a massive fraction and 25% of all in the nation.

Yes, and about 3 million Puerto Ricans are in the same position. And yes, Puerto Rico is in the country too.

This is broadly a good thing, of course, but I won't let people forget that Puerto Rico is a part of the country too, and in a similar position as felons in the mainland, crime or no crime.

Puerto Rico is not a state.  It can be, but Puerto Rico, for most of its history, has opted to maintain its present status.

You don't have to be a state to be part of the territory of the United States. That's pretty clear.

[SnowLabrador]

I'm not going to celebrate. The Supreme Court will overturn this ruling.

[ajc0918]

The judge made a very strong argument for his ruling. The 11th circuit already rejected an appeal of the preliminary ruling in Feb (I think). They could overturn the ruling but the law was disfunctional  by itself regardless of its constitutionality. The state literally didn’t know how to implement its own law and the case got stronger as the trial went on. Yes it could he overturned but the state would need very clear instructions on how to proceed.

[Pulaski]

Fantastic news. It's the largest bloc of disenfranchised votes in the country and it astounds me that so many nations around the world deny basic civil rights in this manner (including Australia).

Laughs in Puerto Rico

6 million disenfranchised felons, dude.

That's 6 million throughout the whole country. This law in Florida only affects a fraction of that. Apples to oranges.

I very clearly said in my original post that it was the largest bloc in the country. Of course this law only affects Floridians but any initiative helps the broader goal.

Florida had 1.5 million disenfranchised voters 23% of them were African American, so yea if it's just a "fraction" it is a massive fraction and 25% of all in the nation.

Yes, and about 3 million Puerto Ricans are in the same position. And yes, Puerto Rico is in the country too.

This ruling is a good thing, of course, but I won't let people forget that Puerto Rico is a part of the country too, and in a similar position as felons in the mainland, crime or no crime.

I definitely agree with you about Puerto Rico. DC is in a relatively similar position too, and I support statehood (or a similarly enfranchising solution for DC).

I guess in real terms it doesn't matter about raw numbers; injustice is injustice. Millions and millions are barred/discouraged from voting across the country; it needs to be fixed.