Appeals court gets voting rights case
Confusion reigns on felons’ eligibility under constitutional amendment
TALLAHASSEE — Angel Sanchez lost his right to vote before he was old enough to even cast a ballot, but after his release from prison in 2011, he did everything he could to turn his life around.
Sanchez made monthly payments toward $1,698 in court-ordered fees and costs assessed when he was convicted of felony charges as a 17-year-old. He used money orders to chip away at his debt when he was homeless.
He ultimately graduated from the University of Central Florida and went on to earn a law degree this spring from the University of Miami. Along the way, he advocated for Amendment 4, a 2018 constitutional amendment that restored voting rights to felons “upon completion of all terms of sentence, including parole or probation.”
Sanchez registered to vote on Jan. 8, 2019, the day the amendment, approved by nearly two-thirds of Florida voters, went into effect.
But the 38-year-old Miami man and others like him are now unsure if they are eligible to vote. This comes more three years after Sanchez’s probation officer told him he had satisfied all of his financial burdens and he was released from supervision early.
Florida legislators last year approved a law requiring felons to pay “legal financial obligations” — fees, fines, costs and restitution — associated with their convictions to be eligible to vote. Republican lawmakers said the requirement properly carried out the wording of the constitutional amendment. But backers of the amendment challenged the 2019 statute, saying that linking finances and voting rights amounts to an unconstitutional “poll tax.”
After many twists and turns in the legal battle, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta is poised to hear arguments Tuesday in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that found the law unconstitutional.
The legal wrangling and incomplete or contradictory court records have erected at-times insurmountable barriers for Florida felons such as Sanchez who want to participate in one of the bedrock elements of democracy: voting.
“It has caused tremendous confusion among the lawyers and pro bono lawyers that have been trying to assist people for over a year. So you can only imagine the confusion of the people that are applying,” said Miami-Dade County Public Defender Carlos Martinez.
Sanchez works for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, one of the organizations that pushed Amendment 4 and is now raising money to help pay off felons’ obligations so they can vote.
As he was researching how much he dished out over the years, Sanchez made a shocking discovery: The clerk’s office showed that he had an outstanding balance. He also uncovered another unwelcome surprise, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement fee of $298 that Sanchez believes was erroneously imposed.
“I panicked. And I really was now afraid … because I thought, if it’s my word against the system, from my experience, people convicted of felonies are always the ones doubted,” Sanchez said. “I always have to be twice as good to hopefully deserve half as much.”
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has collected more than $2 million in donations to help clear up felons’ court-ordered debt, with celebrities and high-profile athletes such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James and John Legend kicking in up to $1 million more, according to Desmond Meade of Orlando, the organization’s president and executive director.
Dozens of lawyers throughout the state are working with organizations such as the FRRC, the Alliance for Safety and Justice and the League of Women Voters of Florida to help felons determine whether they have outstanding financial obligations and to clear up the debts so they can register to vote. Floridians have until Oct. 5 to register to vote in the November general election.
Attorney Carin Levine said she’s helped about 100 people apply for the modifications, and none was denied.
“I would understand that anyone with or without a law degree would be completely confused,” Levine said.
For example, some people thought they were convicted felons but adjudications of guilt were withheld in their cases, “so they were eligible to vote the entire time but didn’t know,” she said.
Nearly a month after he began reaching out to officials to clear up his case, Sanchez said he remains in limbo. He won’t risk voting until he’s sure his record is clear.
“I hate that I’m going through it, but I’m glad that by going through it,’’ he said. “I can shed light on the fact that even someone who’s entitled to vote right now is being worried and scared out of voting or exhausted out of voting. That shouldn’t be the case.”