Florida Governor Wants to Disenfranchise Sex Offenders
As if it wasn’t bad enough that people convicted of Murder or a Sex Offense were excluded from Amendment 4, which restored former felon’s rights to vote upon completion of their sentence, Governor Elect Ron Desantis wants to stop registrants from voting entirely, even those who were never convicted of a felony and who never lost their right to vote.
According to Naples’ NBC 2 News, “He wants the language to say that people, such as sex offenders who did not face felony charges, should not be eligible to vote…I think the voters of Florida would not have passed that if sex offenders had been allowed”
If his attitude towards people required to register is so harsh when it comes to removing the voting rights of people who never lost their voting rights in the first place, one can only imagine how he’ll be to those who come before him for clemency hearings.
No surprise here. Next Ron will just pass legislation to ban anyone from voting who claims to belong to any opposing party . That was the purpose of restricting sex offenders and murders in the first place.
people who did not face felony charges ? I don’t get this. He wants to take the voting rights of people who had their charges dropped ? People with no criminal record, just an arrest ? That is how I understood this. wow!
Talk about beating a dead horse even more…ridiculous!… But whatever man, all I want is to be off the registry and for SORR laws to be stricken so I can live decently. Hoping the courts can come through soon.
Amen 🙏🏿
Amen Alex! Same here. Get me off the registry for good and let me live in my own house and I could care less about voting.
Read jax fl news paper dec 23 2018 fight fight this article will want you to fight
” one can only imagine how he’ll be to those who come before him for clemency hearings. ”
I said it in a post when Amendment 4 passed and Desantis got elected. Why even bother asking for clemency with both Ron Desantis and Ashley Mooney in a clemency board. A complete waste of time and energy.
@Bobby
I was thinking the same thing. Ashley Moody who was endorsed by 90% of the Florida Sheriffs is just a continuation to Pam Bondi and Ron Desantis as well with being Rick Scott part 2 ( nothing changed really ).
I wonder if their clemency board schedule for clemency hearings will even have any people at all asking for clemency since it is now limited to only registrants and people convicted of murder. I tend to agree with you that it would only be a waste of time and energy considering the post above.
@Debbie
Florida is a scary place to live.
Ron Desantis – governor, not so sex offender friendly as you can see from this post and this is only the beginning.
Ashley Moody – attorney general reinforcing Desanti’s views of not so friendly to sex offenders and represents all Florida Sheriffs.
Lauren Book – Senator – keeps passing more and more sex offense laws and she just started as well.
Ron Book – homeless trust – keeping registrants homeless on the street and influencing anything possible to the discomfort of registrants.
Miami-Dade commissioners – all of them in Ron Book’s pocket reinforcing the Ron Book madness to registered citizens.
Sheriff Grady – keeps on entrapping more and more people in central Florida so they can be subject to these horrid laws.
The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a Florida-based company specializing in ” privatized ” corrections, detention, and mental health treatment.
They all sound like their part of some shady criminal enterprise.
It won’t just be s.o. or murderers, the voting rights act gives them the ability to vote, clemency would restore their other rights.
Thanks Tony. You’re right.
I have never been convicted of a crime. I have never been to prison. I have been on the Sex Offender registry in Florida for over 21 years. Learning that I may now lose my right to vote after so much time has elapsed after my “adjudication withheld” sentencing and successful probation period is surreal and troubling. The barrage of new laws and regulations we endure here in Florida amounts to perpetual jeapordy with endless and often arbitrary guidelines and disenfranchisement scenarios.
Rarely, if at all, are any of these laws and regulations “evidence based legislation” based upon empirical information. Emotionalism, pandering to fear and hatred seem to underly the motivations of many of our elected officials. I am now at the beginning of my 3rd decade on the sex offender registry and it never ceases to amaze me the creative ways I am under perpetual attack by the governing bodies of our state and the subsequent ramifications in daily life that I endure. I’ve seen a lot of proposals come and go over the years and some actually make it into law. I keep thinking / hoping we’ve finally seen the highwater mark on this perpetual cycle of life long post-sentencing re-punishments but I must sadly admit that these unconstitutional practices will continue.
Florida has gone rouge and just as any runaway train this is not going to end well. The Florida government needs to be accountable to Federal guidelines and not just be allowed to make new laws at will simply because it benefits the twisted vengeful and hate filled minds of twisted politicians and “career victims” like Lauren Book!
Those in “power” in Florida should remember that creating a second class of American citizens will not end well – “when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.”
It’s going to change in 2019 one way or another. Happy Holidays!
ok, if I cant vote, then I should be exempt from paying taxes. After all wasnt the phrase “no taxation without representation” the battle cry for the Revolutionary War that founded this nation?
I agree Kevin. Now that’s a language that should be added to amendment 4. ” the no taxation without representation clause “. If you’re not allowed to vote, then no need to be paying taxes.