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Federal court rules Florida felons must pay off debts to state before voting
Last edited Sat Sep 12, 2020, 03:58 AM - Edit history (1)
In late May, the US district judge Robert Hinkle ruled that Florida could not block people from voting if they genuinely could not pay. But on Friday, the majority in the 11th circuit ruled Florida officials had broad discretion to choose the conditions people with felony convictions had to meet before their voting rights were restored. The financial issues at question in the case, the majority wrote, “are directly related to legitimate voter qualifications”.
“States may restrict voting by felons in ways that would be impermissible for other citizens,” the court said, pointing to a 1974 supreme court case. “The people of Florida could rationally conclude that felons who have completed all terms of their sentences, including paying their fines, fees, costs, and restitution, are more likely to responsibly exercise the franchise than those who have not.”
Even though Florida requires people with felonies to repay financial obligations before they can vote, figuring out how much they owe is often impossible, even for state officials. There is no centralized place to look up how much someone owes. Some criminal sentences are from decades ago and record-keeping of court payments is often shoddy. Local clerks testified during a trial in May that there are often conflicting amounts in records.
But in an extraordinary determination, the 11th circuit said on Friday that while Florida could require payment to vote, it had no obligation to tell people with felonies how much they owed. Florida does not have a constitutional obligation to provide that information to voters, Judge William Pryor wrote for the majority. The 11th circuit is one of three appellate courts the Trump has recently flipped to have a majority of Republican-appointed judges. Five of the six judges in Friday’s decision were Trump appointees.
“States may restrict voting by felons in ways that would be impermissible for other citizens,” the court said, pointing to a 1974 supreme court case. “The people of Florida could rationally conclude that felons who have completed all terms of their sentences, including paying their fines, fees, costs, and restitution, are more likely to responsibly exercise the franchise than those who have not.”
Even though Florida requires people with felonies to repay financial obligations before they can vote, figuring out how much they owe is often impossible, even for state officials. There is no centralized place to look up how much someone owes. Some criminal sentences are from decades ago and record-keeping of court payments is often shoddy. Local clerks testified during a trial in May that there are often conflicting amounts in records.
But in an extraordinary determination, the 11th circuit said on Friday that while Florida could require payment to vote, it had no obligation to tell people with felonies how much they owed. Florida does not have a constitutional obligation to provide that information to voters, Judge William Pryor wrote for the majority. The 11th circuit is one of three appellate courts the Trump has recently flipped to have a majority of Republican-appointed judges. Five of the six judges in Friday’s decision were Trump appointees.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/11/florida-felons-vote-debts-ruling-election
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