Rights delayed and likely denied

Gov. Jeb Bush appears to be deliberately trying to frustrate a recent appellate court ruling directing the Department of Corrections to assist former inmates in getting their civil rights restored. The governor, it appears, would rather obfuscate and delay than implement the court's directive. The likely result will be that thousands of released felons will be left in the dark as to how to get their right to vote back.

In response to a lawsuit filed by the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators, the 1st District Court of Appeal unanimously ruled earlier this month that the process currently employed by the department to assist inmates in the restoration of their right to vote was flawed. Although one part of the application was electronically sent to the Board of Executive Clemency, the vast bulk of inmates also needed another form to be sent. That form would start the process for an eventual hearing - a step necessary for 85 percent of inmates. The court directed the department to begin assisting inmates who were about to be released with the submission of this form.

But rather than comply, Bush abolished the form. Now, in order for these inmates to get their voting rights back, they will have to wait for the clemency office to inform them in writing that they should get in touch with the office to begin the process. Because former inmates tend to be a transient population it can sometimes take months and years for mail to eventually find them. This will undoubtedly cause many felons who wish to get their rights restored to slip through the cracks. There are currently between 400,000 and 700,000 felons in the state without voting rights.

Bush's act demonstrates hostility toward the idea of fully rehabilitating people who spent time in prison, as well as contempt for the court. There is no reason for people who have paid their debt to society to have to find their way through a maze of bureaucracy before they can exercise their rights as citizens. Florida is one of only seven states that do not automatically restore rights. It is in Bush's authority to grant blanket clemency to released felons, but he refuses.

The question of felons voting in Florida has been a point of controversy in presidential politics since the state used a faulty felon purge list in 2000. You don't have to be a cynic to wonder if the governor is more concerned about his brother's re-election as president than in restoring the voting rights of felons.

[Last modified July 25, 2004, 23:47:19]