Skip to content
February 5, 2023
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas

Primary Menu
  • News
  • Opinion
  • About us
    • About us
    • Who we are – Becoming a Volunteer
    • Editorial guidelines for contributors
    • Our Sources
      • Venezuelan Sources
      • International Sources
    • Contact us
  • Categories
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Security and Defense
    • International
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • Oceania
      • US/Canada
    • Latin America and ALBA-TCP
      • South America
      • Central America and the Caribbean (+Mexico)
    • Ideology-Commune-Labor
    • Health-Education-Sport-Culture-Technology
    • Solidarity and Social Movements
    • OT Specials
  • Support Us
Light/Dark Button
YouTube Channel
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Florida Loses Appeals Court Ruling on Felon Voting Law
  • Opinion
  • US Electoral System

Florida Loses Appeals Court Ruling on Felon Voting Law

February 25, 2020

A defeat to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature . . . A 2016study by The Sentencing Project estimated more than 1.4 million people living in Florida were ineligible to vote due to past felony convictions.

By Gary Fineout – February 23, 2020

Tallahassee — A legal and political battle over voting rights in Florida reached another milestone on Wednesday when a federal appeals court ruled that a law limiting the voting rights of people with felony convictions was unconstitutional.

Delivering a defeat to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld a lower court decision that found the state could not deny ex-felons the right to vote just because they can’t afford to pay outstanding court fines, fees and restitution, as required by the 2019 law.

“These plaintiffs are punished more harshly than those who committed precisely the same crime — by having their right to vote taken from them likely for their entire lives,” states the ruling issued by a three-judge panel. “And this punishment is linked not to their culpability, but rather to the exogenous fact of their wealth.”

It’s not clear if the legal battle will get resolved ahead of this year’s presidential election in the battleground state, which could decide whether President Donald Trump wins a second term.

RELATED CONTENT: How Government and Media Are Prepping America for a Failed 2020 Election

DeSantis spokesperson Helen Aguirre Ferré said the governor’s office disagreed with the ruling and will seek a review from the full court.

In October, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a preliminary injunction against the law, a move that applied to only the 17 people who had challenged it in court. That lawsuit, brought by a coalition of left-leaning and civil rights groups, along with people with felony convictions, is scheduled for a non-jury trial in April.

“This is a great win for voting rights,” said Myrna Pérez, director of the Voting Rights and Elections program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “The 11th circuit told the state of Florida what the rest of America already knows. You can’t condition the right to vote on a person’s wealth.”

The battle over felon voting rights is just one of several still going on in Florida. Lawsuits over early voting sites, Spanish-language ballots, and the placement of Trump’s name on the ballot are pending in federal courts.

In 2018, more than 5 million Florida voters cast ballots in favor of Amendment 4, which automatically restored voting rights to convicted criminals who had served their time, with exceptions for murders and sex offenders.

RELATED CONTENT: US: An Open Letter to the Green Party About 2020 Election Strategy

Legislators said the amendment was vague, and passed a bill that required ex-offenders to pay outstanding court fees, fines and restitution in order to regain their right to vote.

The state Supreme Court, which had been asked by the DeSantis administration to weigh in on the law, last month concluded that Amendment 4’s requirement that “all terms of sentence” be completed included the settling of financial legal obligations.

But the law has drawn criticism that it amounts to an illegal poll tax, an assertion that hasn’t yet gained traction in federal court.

Rep. James Grant, a Tampa Republican and one author of the law, said Wednesday’s ruling was expected.

“It’s just the third quarter of the football game,” said Grant, who predicted that whoever ultimately loses before the appeals court will take the challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an advocacy group that pushed the Amendment 4 ballot initiative, told supporters on Facebook on Wednesday that he was “cautiously optimistic” after the ruling. But he warned that the issue may not be resolved anytime soon, calling it a “rollercoaster ride.”

“‘There’s many more steps in this journey, there’s many more levels that have to be reached before we can claim some sort of victory,” Meade said.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Florida’s lone statewide elected Democrat, called on DeSantis to drop his appeals. She said the state’s clemency board could simply adopt new rules that make it easier for people with felony convictions to regain their voting rights.

Even before Amendment 4 was adopted, the governor and Cabinet had the power to restore rights to former prisoners, including the right to run for office or serve on a jury.

“We don’t have to wait on litigation or legislation,” Fried said in a written statement. “We can restore voting rights immediately. And we must.”

A study by The Sentencing Project released in 2016 estimated more than 1.4 million people living in Florida were ineligible to vote due to past felony convictions.

But an August study by Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida, concluded that as many as 80 percent of the state’s formerly incarcerated individuals have some sort of legal financial obligation.

Wednesday’s appeals court ruling said the law violated the constitution’s equal protection clause. Two of the three judges serving on the panel were appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. The third was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, and later elevated to the appeals court by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

The appeals court panel also rejected an argument by lawyers representing DeSantis and Secretary of State Laurel Lee that Amendment 4 itself was unconstitutional if the law passed by legislators was unconstitutional.

Gary Fineout came to POLITICO Florida in February 2019 after spending more than two decades covering Florida politics and government.

He spent the previous seven and a half years working in the Tallahassee bureau of The Associated Press. Prior to that, he has worked for The Miami Herald, The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group, Daytona Beach News-Journal and The Tallahassee Democrat.

Fineout grew up in Florida and is a graduate of Florida State University.

 

Featured image: Voting stickers on election day., AP Photo

Source URL: Portside

Want More?

Don't want to be a victim of the Algorithm?

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER WITH ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VENEZUELA

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

orinocotribune
Website | + posts
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Chavistas marching and holding a large drawing of Commander Hugo Chávez at Paseo Los Proceres, Caracas, celebrating the 31st anniversary of the February 4th, 1992, military rebellion. Photo: Peoples Dispatch.
    February 4, 2023
    Chavistas March to Celebrate Anniversary of 1992 Civic-Military Rebellion (+Photos)
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Far-right Venezuelan politician Yon Goicoechea. Photo: RedRadioVE.
    February 3, 2023
    Goicoechea Confesses Total Money Kidnapped by Washington Via Local Puppets
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Fisheye view of the new stadium Monumental Simón Bolívar in Caracas, the second biggest baseball stadium in Latin America, inaugurated on Wednesday, February 1, 2022. Photo: Correo del Orinoco.
    February 2, 2023
    President Maduro Inaugurates Simón Bolívar Monumental Stadium for Gran Caracas 2023 Caribbean Baseball Series (+Photos)
  • orinocotribune
    https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/
    Late Venezuelan LGBTQIA+ activist Rummie Quintero. Photo: Venezuela News.
    February 2, 2023
    Venezuela Mourns Rummie Quintero, Prominent LGBTQIA+ Activist
Tags: democracy elections Florida Helen Aguirre Ferre Judge Robert Hinkle really not voting for being felon? Ron DeSantis us electoral system

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Continue Reading

Previous Previous post:

Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly Decorates Defenders of Sovereignty (Battle of the Bridges)

Next Next post:

Egyptian Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah Re-arrested After Court Revokes Release Order

Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter

We keep your data private and share your data only with third parties that make this service possible. Read our Privacy Policy.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

NEWS: Most Viewed 72 Hours

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

Categories

OPINION: Most Viewed 72 hours

We are on Telegram


Receive our news directly in your cellphone or PC, join us on our TELEGRAM channel: https://t.me/OrinocoTribune1

 

Download TELEGRAM, click the link above and then press the JOIN button.

We are on Discord


Now we are also on Discord you will be able to follow our every move and interact with our team.

Join us by clicking here



All our work is free to use and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

We are on Reddit

If you are more into REDDIT, join our Orinoco Tribune Community.

 

Just click below and then click JOIN
https://www.reddit.com/r/OrinocoTribune/

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Copyleft, No rights reserved.