Clemency board restores rights to felons

By PAUL FLEMMING, The News-Press Tallahassee Bureau
?Published by news-press.com on June 18, 2004

TALLAHASSEE ? Civil rights were restored to 20,861 felons in Florida in the past year, 41 percent more than the year before.

About 11,000 of those were granted to felons released between 1992 and 2001 and considered as a result of a lawsuit.

Gov. Jeb Bush announced the figures at the beginning of a meeting of the Executive Clemency Board where he and members of the Cabinet conduct hearings for pardons and restorations of rights. Fifty-five people were pardoned or had civil rights restored from Thursday?s hearings. An additional 25 felons were denied pardons or rights restoration.

Dozens of felons appeared in person to make sometimes tearful appeals. To those granted clemency, Bush included exhortations to remain sober or to keep up with child support payments.

Todd Deratany appeared before the board Thursday. The 38-year-old is the former mayor of Indialantic, sentenced in 1998 to two years? probation after pleading no contest to reduced charges of attempted possession of cocaine. The Parole Commission had given an unfavorable recommendation to his request for restoration of his civil rights.

His actions six years ago, ?brought great shame to my family, my friends and my town,? Deratany said as he broke down in tears and had to compose himself before going on. He sought clemency, he said, ?so I may vote, a right very dear to me.?

Bush did not act on Deratany?s request, instead taking the case under advisement.

The 20,861 number Bush cited had their rights restored without a hearing. Felons are eligible for the no-hearing clemency if their crime is not serious, they have no outstanding restitution to pay and have not had clemency granted in the past 10 years, among other things. Even felons eligible to have their rights restored without a hearing still must make application.

A backlog of 8,221 cases remains for felons seeking a hearing, like the 95 heard Thursday, to have their rights restored.

Florida is among seven states that don?t automatically restore a felon?s civil rights after they have served their sentences.

The state?s procedures have been called into question particularly since the 2000 election when people suspected of being felons were taken off voter rolls and not allowed to vote. Some of those taken off the rolls were later found to be the victims of mistaken identity or were felons who had had their rights restored.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state, saying the Department of Corrections had failed to tell felons of the steps they could take to get back civil rights ? the ability to vote, hold public office, serve on juries and get certain professional licenses.

A Leon County circuit judge last year directed the Department of Corrections to provide the Parole Commission with the names of 125,000 felons released between 1992 and 2001 and never told of their options. Bush said that this week the Office of Executive Clemency determined that 22,000 of those were eligible for restoration without a hearing.

The remainder fall into different categories neither he nor his office could specify, but included those who were back in prison, had died, or who already had their rights restored.