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.
if i am reading this correctly, it would only apply to persons convicted in a military court, not a criminal court. There is a difference in the 2, most military court marshals are not recorded as felonies, I don’t see where he is trying to take away voting rights for misdemeanor S/O or for adjudication withheld .
Jack & Kevin,
I fully agree with your statements. Luckily I bought a house before the residency restrictions went into effect. But that alone (no property taxes) would save me about $250.00/ month.
WHY should I “PAY” if I cant have a say???
That’s great Sean ! and I like the way you put it too: ” WHY should I “PAY” if I cant have a say??? “
This is going to be a “one term gov.” Will/is the now termed “Marshmallow soft/liberal” ACLU going to to do anything about this?
(Probably not)
Merry Christmas to all!!!
I believe that the ACLU is arguing in the 11th district court of appeals about why the courts should not dismiss the case currently before it because. of the discrimination against murderers and Registered Citizens in Florida. Plus they mentioned the fact that restoring voters rights does not restore all civil rights to the felons who have been released now to vote.
We shall see if Florida takes this to a higher court if they lose. I am sure that the ACLU and the supporting others will appeal to a higher court if the decision comes down against those who experience disparate impact .
Let us keep on following the case and hope that the ACLU (and the others) win the day!
Muriel – which case is this you are talking about?
Judge Mark Walker in the Northern District found that the reinstatement procedure was not being followed by the Scott administration and clemency Board. The case was appealed by FL. The immediate result was that the 11th Dist. found not to act immediately but to hold onto the case until the amendment 4 was decided. With that done the State of FL asked the court to dismiss the pending case, but the ACLU stated it should not be dismissed because of the disparate impact and the question about the remaining rights not restored to the felons, i.e. jury duty, right to bear arms, etc.
Thanks Muriel!
Muriel,
The ACLU has already weighed-in on this Amendment 4 and SUPPORTED the Amendment for the EXCLUSION of murderers & SO’s.
Do you honestly think that the ACLU is NOW going to fight for us on this? (after they supported this amendment???)
Sean, the polling indicated that if murder and sex offenses were included the Amendment would not get enough votes to pass. So it was decided to exclude them in order to at least get something passed. The FL ACLU has been made aware of our concerns and they have indicated they are looking for ways to resolve. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution.
G,
So you stated:
“Sean, the polling indicated that if murder and sex offenses were included the Amendment would not get enough votes to pass.”
So what you are saying, according to what I am interpreting, is that “THEY” are more concerned with polling and passing discriminatory bills than the rights of ALL FELONS??
(WHY are “they” so scared about sex-offenders being able to vote? That SO’s, as a whole wield just enough power to override/make a difference in the vote/voting structure?)
Is this “bill” about restoring rights…..
OR…. is it about political correctness?
And I have read, on this site, that once something is passed into the Florida Constitution, it cannot be changed, or amended.
This bill should have never been brought to a vote.
THANK YOU RON & LAUREN BOOK (and your felon-driven cohort)
Sean
Why were women’s votes suppressed ? To control the outcome of elections to assure there out come for personal greed and selfishness reasons. Why were blacks votes suppressed? For the same reason. Why are SO votes suppressed? For the same reason. 912,000 is a scary number of votes for politicians. They just added the murders to make it appear as if SO are of equal danger as a violent murderer living next to you. It’s the voting number there scared of. Murderers don’t have a registry.
DavidM,
In another post, in another thread, I said the same thing about womens voting rights, Blacks getting their civil rights. We are in total agreement on this. I also know that FAC has many, many post to look thru so basic, same ideas are shared by many; yet can be hard to track down.
I personally know of 2 people who drove drunk and killed people, families….. They have their voting rights restored 2 years after they committed their offense; NOT 2 years after they finished their probation.
These, even tho they are still my friends, they killed people. Took their lives–murdered people.
But people who are “convicted” of offenses they did not commit; I had a public pretender state at the day of my trial that he didnt even look at my case (in 9 months) and be forced to take a plea deal, adjudicated WITHHELD and I fall under Fla Statutes 947.149 (Permanently incapacitated and harmless to others). But no one will do anything to help me…..(UNLESS I have $10-20,000)
I am on disability ($1,200/month)
Tell me, where is MY say??
Sean
With you bro. 23 yrs. ago also had a public pretender . Court appointed attorneys get there jobs from the defense so don’t even think you’re going to get justice. Your dead before you start. Defense doesn’t even need to try. My attorney told me , 20% of people convicted are innocent so it didn’t matter that I was innocent, they would convict me anyway. It’s my word against there’s and they would never believe me. When he has that attitude I knew he would be right. So here I am yrs. later still trying to fight it. There still trying to kick you down. But I’m not giving up.
DavidM,
The court first appointed me a GOOD PD, who was present during the first pre-trial hearing that I had and saw right thru what my now-ex-wife was trying to do (set me up on bogus charges). He got my case, interviewed me, took 3 depos that proved the mother and step-daughter were lying.
His mistake was he told the prosecutor that he was going to bury the mother & step-daughter on the stand unless the prosecution dropped the charges against me.
4 days later I got a letter from the prosecution that my PD was being off my case because of an “overburdened workload”. They gave me a schmuck that postponed my case for almost a year till the judge got pissed— then this “public Pretender said that he hadnt even LOOKED at my case yet, yet was asking for another continuance.
I asked the judge for a new attorney and, of all people, the prosecution stated that “I just cant pick & choose my attorney”.
So, I was denied competent legal council and forced into a plea deal.
The judge even said “I dont run the courtroom anymore, the prosecution does”.
Tell me how that is justice???
Sean
I fully understand. The judge ask me if I wanted a different attorney , I just figured it wouldn’t do any good , they had already postponed it for 9 months just running up more and more legal fees,if I changed attorneys I’d have to start all over again and run up more fees. So I just said I just wanted to get it over with. Not knowing anything about the SOR. I had never heard of it until after the plea deal was done. It was a misdemeanor charge and my attorney told me it was just like a traffic ticket. Little did I know.
Murderers (heat of the moment), SO, and DUI man slaughter are probably the least likely to reoffend and live normal crime free lives once released. This is bad for business.
Fight back read article in jacksonville fl daily news paper about a us secretary of labor did sex crimes he got 18 month county lockup 12 hrs a day work release. No probation no registery then their is another site about how the sex sting are getting away with not following procedures i am writing to alot government senators congress mayor but read fight back i am here
Sean,
As much as I wish it was to the contrary if I was in their shoes I would have done the same thing. It is extremely expensive to mount a constitutional vote drive. Think about it. Would you have voted to leave out 2 categories, one consisting of around 70,000 registered persons (I believe that was the number I last heard, and heard it is an inflated number in that it lists persons no longer living in Florida) if it meant a better chance of getting the votes to pass and thus getting 1.7 million felons their right to vote? I believe the vast majority of persons not on the registry nor having family on it would have made the same decision. This bill should have and was bought to a vote. And the people of Florida spoke and voted in favor of it. We should now focus on helping getting those felons registered to vote AND inform them so they can vote for candidates who are pro justice reform. And continue to educate others about the low levels of recidivism so we can change minds and get out fair shot.
One item is incorrect. If the constitutional amendment in FL goes against the Federal laws, I believe it can be overthrown or amended. It is against the law to discriminate therefor the ‘disparate impact’ hopefully is the straw that will destroy this discriminatory amendment.
Remember when states had ‘separate but equal’ in there laws the Federal Government Supreme Court weighed in with Brown vs. Bd. of Ed. I think (hope) this is a similar situation.
We only need someone to bring the challenge.
Why split itnin the first case? A felon is a felon after all is said and done: if all commitments are satified then why separate if we are all on the same playing field after our dues to society
Well said Jim and I agree fully. The problem is that society does not see it that way. We are the “worst” of the felons and they were OK with letting the other felons vote but not us and murderers.
They fear us and so we need to inform them of the low recidivism and continue to champion for justice.
The writing was on the wall. All one had to do was look at his stance on criminal justice before he was elected. Let’s thank all those who voted for a political party that think this way. Yay! Thanks!!!
People keep saying do not talk politics. Yet when it affects us why should we not! If one party has a historical approach should we bury our heads in the sand?
The 2012 Party Platform of one party stated, “Liberals do not understand this simple axiom: criminals behind bars cannot harm the general public. To that end, we support MANDATORY prison sentencing for gang crimes, violent or sexual offenses against children, repeat drug dealers, rape, robbery and murder (Yay! At 716 per 100,000 people we already have the highest prison population rate in the world. But let’s not rest on our laurels! More mandatory sentencing means increased prison population rates. So, we get to stay #1 in the world! Yay!!! Why would we prefer instead to be regarded as the leader of the free world? No way, Not us!! Proud to be number one in incarcerating our own people! Yay!!
The Party Platform goes on to state they support a national registry for convicted child murderers (Yay – another registry!!!). And that there should be “no-frills prisons that make the threat of jail a deterrent to crime (Yay! That totally works!!! We already have deplorable prison conditions!! Hmm wait… we are ranked the 47th worse crime rate in the world out of 117 countries. If we already have deplorable prison systems which would mean persons do not want to go there, why do we still have the most number of people ending up there, and why do we still have deplorable crime rates compared to the world? Never mind!! That requires looking at other countries and how their preventive approach versus punitive approach has helped lowered incarceration AND crime rates. But who needs to think so much? Let’s build more no-frill persons!!! Yay!
And last but not least, it is mainly because prison reform and better treatment for prisoners are hot-button issues among millennials (who are the BIGGEST up and coming voting demographic) that above-mentioned party candidates have even been rethinking their stances and supporting laws that would reduce prison time, allow some felons to expunge or seal their criminal records, and even reform federal drug laws. BUT – some candidates, such as Marco Rubio and Scott Walker, are sticking to the traditional party values, and still wish to see stricter imprisonment laws and harsher sentencing for violent crimes. Yay Florida!!!
Can’t wait until the next elections so I can vote in more candidates from such an informed Party! Yay!
Looks to me like the Democrat Devil ron book must be supporting the Republicans Under the Table….
Get out of Florida why you got the chance. The devils’ helper is in office. I don’t see how he got elected at all. I not talking about politics either. I can see it now. FEMA camps for sex offenders.They going to to start to round us up and toss us to gators instead of ovens.
I just said the same thing then read this.
Don’t run stay and fight all laws should be the same florida should not allow to make there own read jax fl news dec 23 2018 on sex has to do with government then start writing to everyone govern cogress senators etc we get enough out there then they will change rules all so should not be on registery some are on from sex stings with no victimins but the article was a secretary of labor you feel bad now read that then you will be boiling over