Voting Rights for Ex-Felons in Florida

Charlie Crist—the Republican Governor of my very own state— is right:    “Once somebody has truly paid their debt to society, we should recognize it, and we should honor it and we should welcome them back into society and give them that second chance.”  (NYT)   I’ve always thought that it was disgraceful that Florida permanently banned ex-felons from voting, serving on juries, or obtaining state licenses, unless they went through a prolonged process of getting their rights restored.  This didn’t often happen.

I always assumed that there must be other states had the same rules, but it turns — according to The New York Times — out that in 47 of them, ex-inmates get their rights restored automatically.   So Florida was in a tiny minority, the other members of which are Kentucky and Virginia.  I’m glad Gov. Crist has moved us forward, even though it’s just a few baby steps.

The new system still treats prisoners differently based on the nature of their crime.  As to the restoration of voting rights, I don’t think that should matter.  As TChris says at Talk Left, it’s a modest reform.  A substantial number of ex-felons will remain disenfranchised under the new system. That’s still not right. Restoration of voting rights ought to be automatic once a person has served out a sentence.

Crist’s basis for pushing for the restoration of rights is — according to this piece — ‘the Christian value of redemption.’ (NYT) As a God-botherer myself, I agree with the importance of that value, though I hate it when people cite religious grounds as the basis for restoring civil rights, since that opens the door to using religious reasons to withhold them.  

As always, I’m interested to see, as always, that certain of his fellow Republicans — many of whom I am quite certain make their religion a selling and talking point while campaigning — aren’t concerned about Jesus or redemption when it comes to the rights of their brethren who have strayed from the path of righteousness.   ‘Some Republicans have argued that felons of all races forfeit their rights when they commit crimes.’(NYT)   Sigh.  Or, as one of the ladies who helped bring me up used to say, ‘Jesus wept.’  But I’m not swearing; I mean it most sincerely.

Apparently, they’re forgetting that Jesus received the death penalty. If his return is imminent, as many evangelicals in my state have informed me, will they make an exception for him or will he have to fill out a lot of paperwork? Although that really shouldn’t matter to Christians. After all: ‘What you do to the least of my brothers, so do you do to me.’

Anyway, never mind. As TChris remarks, what needs redemption is the voting system ‘in the form of additional change’. These laws arose in the first place for the purpose of disenfranchising African-American voters.

And of course there is more to the issue than just the rights of those who have paid their debt to society.  We had a spot of bother here during the 2000 election, as some will recall. That’s factoring into this decision as well, according to the article.

CROSS-POSTED AT BUCK NAKED POLITICS