Florida must accept judge’s ruling on Amendment 4

It was no shock Sunday when a federal judge ruled that Florida’s law restricting voting rights for ex-felons was unconstitutional.

The only surprise was the state waiting all of 48 hours to announce it would appeal. Its determination to keep ex-felons away from ballot boxes is such you’d think nothing would slow it down.

Not the Memorial Day holiday, not a string of court rulings and certainly not the will of the people.

Nearly two years ago they overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, which eliminated the lifetime ban on voting by exfelons. But in the past 18 months, Republican lawmakers have done everything possible to torpedo the amendment.

That was obvious to U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Hinkle. His 125-page ruling on Sunday said Florida can require ex-felons to pay outstanding fines and fees. But if they can’t afford those costs, they will be allowed to vote.

Hinkle also scolded the state for its utter failure to devise a reasonable process to register ex-felons.

Hundreds of thousands of them now stand to regain their voting rights. That demographic does not lean Republican, and Hinkle was appointed by President

Bill Clinton.

Critics reflexively accused him of being a Democratic stooge. But even card-carrying members of The Federalist Society should recognize how lawmakers have turned this into an unconstitutional circus.

“A state may disenfranchise felons and impose conditions on their reenfranchisement,” Hinkle wrote. “But the conditions must pass constitutional scrutiny.”

The original amendment certainly passed voter scrutiny, with 64% approval. It gave felons who were not convicted of murder or sexual offenses the right to vote if they complete “all terms of their sentence.”

That was inexcusably vague, but the state argued voters clearly wanted exfelons to pay all fees and fines before voting.

We doubt that, and so does Hinkle. He said voters would want the state to adhere “to the generous spirit that led to the passage of the amendment.”

The state’s lack of generosity has led to a seemingly endless legal imbroglio. Courts have twice ruled against the state. The state appealed and lost both times.

Amendment backers contend requiring felons to pay to amounted to a “poll tax” since it disproportionately impacted African-Americans. Hinkle shot that down in Sunday’s ruling.

“On balance, I find that SB 7066 was not motivated by race,” he wrote.

That must have been cold comfort to Gov. Ron DeSantis & Co. While the state may deny voting rights to ex-felons who can afford to restitution, Hinkle said the “overwhelming majority” don’t have the money.

Hinkle said it’s unconstitutional to require poor Americans to essentially buy access to a ballot box, especially when they don’t even know how much they owe.

This is where the state gave its game away. It has no single database that tracks fees and fines. Individual counties often have incomplete or contradictory information.

Hinkle ordered the state to come up with a viable system last October. He said Sunday that at its current pace, Florida might have an adequate process by 2026.

“In 18 months since Amendment 4 was adopted, the State has done almost nothing to address the problem — nothing, that is, except to jettison the most logical method for determining whether the required amount has been paid and substituting a bizarre method that no prospective voter would anticipate and that doesn’t solve the problem,” Hinkle wrote.

The real outrage was that ex-felons registering to vote had to swear under oath they had “completed all terms” of their sentences.

In other words, they could be charged with perjury if they still owed money to the state — but the state couldn’t tell them if they owed money.

That sort of chicanery surely was not what 64% of voters had in mind when they passed Amendment 4.

Hinkle’s ruling requires the state to inform ex-felons of their remaining financial obligations within 21 days of a request being received. If they don’t get an answer, they will be eligible to vote.

For now, that is.

The latest appeal will be heard by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Whatever happens there will probably trigger another appeal, and the case may well end up before the U.S. Supreme

Court.

A final ruling might not come until after November. If we didn’t know better — and we don’t — we’d suspect the state just wants to drag this out until after the election.

DeSantis has a law degree from Harvard, so we’re sure he understands the legal maxim that justice delayed is justice denied.

Let’s recap how it applies in this case.

■ Floridians voted overwhelmingly voted 18 months ago to allow ex-felons to vote.

■ A judge told the state seven months ago to come up with a reasonable way to register ex-felons to vote.

■ Lawmakers essentially set up a perjury trap that keeps ex-felons from registering.

■ There is no end in sight.

Whatever the state is fighting for here, it sure isn’t justice.—