Posted on 10/24/2016 7:41:37 AM PDT by mandaladon
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Leonard "Roscoe" Newton has been in and out of Florida's prisons since before he could vote, starting with a youthful conviction for burglary.
He's been a free man for six years now with an important exception: he still can't vote.
Newton, who is African American, is among nearly 1.5 million former felons who have been stripped of their right to vote in a state with a history of deciding U.S. presidential elections, sometimes by razor-thin margins of just a few hundred votes.
Felons have been disenfranchised in Florida since 1868, although they can seek clemency to restore their voting rights.
Since 2011, however, when Republican state leaders toughened the restrictions on felon voting rights, just 2,339 ex-felons have had that right restored, the lowest annual numbers in nearly two decades, according to state data reviewed by Reuters.
That compares with more than 155,000 in the prior four years under reforms introduced by Governor Rick Scott's predecessor, moderate Republican governor Charlie Crist, the data shows. Crist, who was governor from 2007 to 2011, made it much easier to restore ex-felons' voting rights.
"When I tried to be an effective member of the community, I saw that I was voiceless," said Newton, whose expectations of getting his rights restored were dashed when the rules changed under a new administration. "I'm 45, and I have never voted."
The dramatic slowdown has stoked a racially charged debate over whether political bias taints the process of restoring felon voting rights in the largest battleground state in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
Florida's toughened ban means racial minorities are disproportionately excluded from voting because of higher incarceration rates, data shows. Black voters tend to favor Democrats.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
And the problem here is?
No problem. The infamous henchman for the clintoons, terry macawful, is/was trying in VA to get the felon vote re-instated. First it was then it wasn’t. I’ve lost track of where it ended up. Can’t find the “Felons For Hillary” t-shirts. Probably can find “Hillary For Felon” t-shirts though.
Trump needs to remind the Hispanics of the Elion Gonzoles shipment to Cuba...
To Letitia Stein: . . . So?
(Thanks for the post, G)
Translated: Criminals are a core constituency of the DemocRAT Party.
Don’t see what the problem is, especially for violent felons.
Beg to differ, Whites make up the majority of the population, thus the majority of felons.
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=11
But per their population of 13% half of blacks make up 6% of prison prison population. Even juvenile.
If you look at the 11 month 29 day facilities it’s much higher. As is the recidivism rate. 85% in Memphis alone. Most have 20-50 lower grade felonies each. 90 day serve rate, DUI’s are done on the weekends.
Thanks for the ping.
Forget about released felons voting; in New Mexico we’re just trying to keep them locked up. The revolving door catch and release of felons with resulting violence has gotten so bad that their is a constitutional amendment on the ballot to keep the really bad guys locked up. It’s gotten so bad that the chief justice of the state supreme court, speaking for all justices, has produced commercials supporting it. Of course many of those committing crimes are also illegals but that point is overlooked.
What's to differ about?
You seem to be getting this whole thing bass ackwards. Like the death rate, one per person born. Same with those barred from voting: one felon, one more person not voting, black or white, man or woman. Some indicted who cop a plea don't realize that non-voter status goes with acknowledging a felony.
Pretty simple to me, however you want to interpret it. If you want to exercise the rights of a citizen, don't get into activities that will take that status away.
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