Crist and Cabinet quietly agree to rescind rights for 11 felons
by Michael C. Bender | December 10th, 2009Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said today that he and the state Cabinet signed an order Wednesday to rescind the rights of 11 felons who were given the right to vote after a mistake from the state.
Two more felons who had their civil rights inappropriately restored are still incarcerated. Officials said no order was needed to rescind their rights.
An ex-felon, once his or her rights are restored, is allowed to vote, serve on a jury, run for elected office and hold certain business licenses. Streamlining a backlog of ex-felons waiting to have their rights restored was a top campaign issue for Crist in 2006. Since implementing changes to the program in April 2007, more than 146,000 ex-offenders have been through the Florida program. That total is more than the previous three years combined.
But a recent audit of the program showed 13 out of a random sample of 203 ex-offenders, or 6 percent, had their rights restored because of mistakes by the Parole Commission. The audit said the mistakes were due to supervisors not properly reviewing eligibility requirements.
Crist said he did not anticipate further discussion about the mistakes at the Parole Commission, which has goal of zero errors when restoring civil rights.
“We just encourage that they (mistakes) not be made,” Crist said. “There’s human error involved in a lot of things that happen. I know these people are trying to do the best they can. Sometimes mistakes occur. When they do, you try to rectify them as best you can do.
Several of the offenders who mistakenly received their rights were ineligible because they owned restitution to victims. State CFO Alex Sink, a Democrat, encouraged the board to reach out to those offenders to seek restitution. Other Clemency Board members include Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, both Republicans.
But Crist’s office said those offenders can apply for restoration after they pay the restitution.
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December 10th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Yay! Let’s put the govt in charge of our health, too.
They seems to have a pretty good track record.
December 10th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Can Someone PLEASE explain to me why a FELON shouldnt have the right to Vote???? I have never understood that law.
December 10th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
#1 comment was AWESOME!
Yes, let’s take that wonderful government that everyone gripes is incompetent, and argue that it should be put in charge of ever more aspects of our lives!
By the way, it appears that the same concept of putting people on an unchecked honor system to “get the job done right” is in place at the newspaper, too. See, the article says that the felons “OWNED restitution to victims.”
I seriously believe that the paper is no longer having dedicated copy editors read the news stories. I think that with all the staff cuts, the reporters are probably being told to just “check your own stuff.” It’s a plausible explanation for the surfeit of typos appearing in the paper and online lately.
December 10th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
JoeC, you’re asking why a felon should NOT have the right to vote?
Why do you even have to ask?
Felons, by virtue of having demonstrated that they commit FELONIES (major crimes), have shown us that they are not to be trusted with the freedom that ordinary people have! Their judgment is shown to be defective (hence they choose to commit crimes instead of living peaceably with their fellows), and so WHY would we WANT them to have a say in how our society is governed?!
As far as I’m concerned, people who have “paid their debt” and served out their full sentences should have their full rights restored. And that would mean even their right to GUNS (since every free person has a right to self defense).
The fact then becomes obvious that most normal people ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT.
Well, if you’re not comfortable with the idea of felons being given ALL the rights of “people who have paid their debt,” then maybe we should be considering keeping them in prison for far longer than we do. After all, what does it say about them if you will grant them release, but still say they’re not trustworthy to have the rights you and I have?
December 15th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Most states do restore voting rights to felons who have finished their sentences automatically without having to apply.
The right to bear arms is controlled by the states as per the 2nd and 10th amendments, the states may make rules regarding how their militias are equipped and who may serve in the militia except that they may not do so in a discriminatory manner.
A violent felony should disqualify someone as a member of the militia hence losing the right to bear arms.