The ACLU and NAACP are weighing in. The “Let My People Vote T-Shirts” are on display. There’s a grass-roots petition drive aimed at a constitutional amendment in 2016 that would automatically restore voting rights to ex-felons not convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses.
Thanks to Gov. Rick Scott and the Caligari Cabinet in 2011, felons have been required to wait at least five years after their release before they can even begin the tortuous process of applying for full citizenship. Florida is one of four states in which a felony conviction technically includes the permanent loss of civil rights. So in this state, the released felon must formally petition the governor and the cabinet for clemency, a process that could take years to never. The current backlog is 20,000 clemency cases.
As presently constituted, the wait-and-petition system is manifestly unfair to those who have served out their sentences. It’s a civil rights issue.
Yes, we can quibble about “paying one’s debt to society” in the context of a questionable plea bargain or the sobering aftermath of crimes that leave debts literally impossible to fully “pay off.” Some victims’ lives, for example, are never made quite whole. Even after “closure,” there is no unscarring of the scarred. We get it.
But we have a legal system where the forfeiture of rights is part of the punishment meted out. And then we have the finite end of punishment without rights being restored. Quid minus quo.
But there’s an even more important factor here, one that is typically overlooked. The restoration of rights, such as voting, is in society’s–not just an individual ex-felon’s–best interest. This is not all about altruism.
We know that the rate of recidivism is notably less among felons who have served their time and regained their rights. Not surprisingly, recent reports show that former prisoners who have had their rights restored re-offend at one-third the rate of other inmates who had completed their sentences.
Surely Scott can spin public safety. Surely.
The stark reality is that most felons don’t stay locked up in jail. At some point they’re back in our midst–whether re-integrated or shoe-horned. It’s estimated that there are at least 1 million Sunshine State residents who are permanent “second-class citizens.” They served their time, pay taxes and can’t vote.
Waiting a minimum of five years in order to APPLY to have rights restored is unacceptable. In too many cases, that could be five years worth of a ticking, societal time bomb.
Call it a matter of fairness to ex-felons looking for a second chance after serving out their sentence. But more importantly, call it a matter of common sense and common good.