Restoration of rights process unduly harsh on African-Americans
Florida’s criminal disenfranchisement laws prevent over 1.6 million citizens from voting in Florida — more than any other state in the country. This law was written over 150 years ago during Reconstruction to prevent African-Americans from having access to the ballot box. Although many other vestigial statutes from the Jim Crow era were removed by the Constitutional Revision Commission of 1968, felony disenfranchisement remains.
Of the 1.6 million disenfranchised ex-offenders, over a third are African-Americans. This is remarkable, considering African-Americans only comprise 16 percent of our state’s population. But these laws were written with sinister intent; as a result, a full 20 percent of voting-age African-Americans are barred from the ballot box. The impact has been devastating to communities of color. The only recourse for the restoration of rights is the process of executive clemency dictated by the governor.
To be eligible, ex-felons must complete their entire sentence, including community supervision (1.4 million of the 1.6 million who are disenfranchised have done this); however, applicants also are required to submit to a modern-day poll tax — having to pay all fines, fees and restitution to be eligible for the restoration of their rights. Beyond this, many applicants are required to endure a five- (sometimes seven-) year waiting period, after serving their time, before they can begin their application.
However, at any point, the clemency board can exercise unchecked discretion in denying an applicant — for any reason or no reason at all. Nor is the clemency board required to keep internal documentation of its reasoning for denying applications.
Gov. Rick Scott’s policies for executive clemency are a far cry from the progress made under
Gov. Charlie Crist’s far more streamlined process. In fact, one year after Crist implemented measures to streamline executive clemency, over 115,000 Floridians had their rights restored. One year after the enactment of Scott’s policies, only 52 applications were approved.
Republicans, Democrats and Independents agree we cannot expect these ex-offenders to reintegrate into our society if they cannot take ownership of our democracy.