Criminals who've paid debt to society deserve right to vote

Nothing is as offensive to democracy as an abuse of political power for which there appears to be no remedy, even under the Constitution.

That’s the indefensible situation in Florida today under a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet — and their massive denial of voting rights to people convicted of felonies who have paid their debts to society.

By a 2-1 vote, the court blocked a district judge’s order calling for a fairer deal for some 1.6 million Floridians who can’t vote because of a prior felony conviction. Worse, the court said in effect that Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and their collaborators in voter suppression are likely to win the underlying appeal.

Fortunately, there is an available remedy for this injustice. Amendment 4 on the Nov. 6 ballot is a voter initiative that would provide automatic restoration of voting rights once most ex-felons have fully completed their sentences, including parole or probation. Murderers and those convicted of sexual felonies would still be required to apply to the governor and Cabinet.

More than 800,000 Floridians signed the petitions for this initiative. As with all constitutional amendments, it will require 60 percent of voters to approve it for passage. It deserves everyone’s support. Voting is the right that protects all others. People who have paid their debts to society are as deserving of that right as any others. It is vital to productive citizenship.

It’s true that federal precedents favor the right of governors and pardon boards to deny clemency as capriciously as they choose. But that case law is as flawed as the long line of decisions that upheld racial segregation before enlightened leaders overturned it. Florida’s voter disenfranchisement continues to affect minorities disproportionally and should be buried along with the rest of Jim Crow.

Only three other states — Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia — impose permanent disenfranchisement for felony convictions. But Florida is by far the worst in terms of the number of people languishing in second-class citizenship.

Before Scott and the Cabinet turned back the clock seven years ago, then-Gov. Charlie Crist had instituted a relatively rapid system for considering and granting applications from ex-felons, processing more than 100,000 a year. Now people must wait five to seven years before even applying. Scott and the Cabinet have approved barely 3,000 applications. They meet as the clemency board only four times a year.

The appeals court decision came on the eve of the deadline set by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee for Scott and the Cabinet to adopt clear rules. A draft prepared for an emergency Cabinet meeting last month would have preserved the arbitrary five-year rule, but eliminated the need to appear before the governor and Cabinet. That grudging change is inferior to Amendment 4.

The meeting was canceled after the appeals court ruled.

The majority opinion cited “binding precedent ... that the governor has broad discretion to grant and deny clemency, even when the applicable regime lacks any standards.”

But to say it’s legal does not make it right.

— Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Sun Sentinel