Ex-felons face new twist in voting

Gov. Jeb Bush has decided to eliminate paper applications for felons seeking to recover their civil rights, and attorneys assert that the move will thwart thousands of potential voters.

BY DEBBIE CENZIPER AND JASON GROTTO

dcenziper@herald.com

Days after a Florida appeals court demanded that the state provide more help to felons who want their right to vote restored, Gov. Jeb Bush introduced a new policy that civil rights advocates say circumvents the will of the court and threatens to exclude tens of thousands of potential voters.

Last week, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee unanimously ruled that state prison officials must follow the law and provide newly released felons the necessary paperwork and assistance to get their full civil rights back.

That would include a one-page application for a formal hearing before the Florida Clemency Board the only way an estimated 85 percent of felons will ever get their rights restored.

But instead of providing the application, Bush decided to scrap it altogether. On Wednesday, he announced that felons will now have to contact the Office of Executive Clemency when and if they want to apply for a hearing to have their rights restored.

Bush argues that the policy reduces paperwork and, therefore, provides the ease and assistance demanded by the court.

Civil rights advocates say the decision will disfranchise thousands of people in a state where more than 400,000 are already banned from voting.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute sued the state in 2001, saying the Department of Corrections for years violated the law by not helping felons to make civil rights applications. The Department has made changes since then but still refuses to provide to outgoing inmates the one-page application needed for a hearing.

Civil rights groups took the state to court to change the policy. Last week, they declared victory. On Wednesday, they cried foul.

`CLEVER TACTIC'

''You have to hand it to the governor. It's a very clever legal tactic and even more clever propaganda,'' said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU in Florida. ``It's done under the guise of trying to simplify the process and eliminate paperwork, but it just shows his true character. It's completely disingenuous.''

BUSH'S RATIONALE

Bush and his staff, however, say eliminating the application and requesting that felons call to request hearings simplifies the state's clemency system and ensures that the agencies overseeing the process won't be bogged down by paperwork.

''The bottom line is, this will streamline the process,'' said the governor's spokesman, Jacob DiPietre. ``Once felons are notified that they don't qualify for restoration without a hearing, all they have to do is pick up the phone and call, send a letter or e-mail a request for a hearing.''

Florida is one of just six states that permanently strip felons of the right to vote. The Florida Clemency Board composed of the governor and the Cabinet can reinstate a felon's right to vote.

There are two ways for ex-felons to get their rights restored. Depending on their past crimes and other factors, they may qualify for restoration through a paperless process without a hearing. Those rejected from that process must go through a more complicated investigation and hearing before the governor and his Cabinet.

STATE'S ARGUMENT

The state had argued that the Department of Corrections fulfilled its legal obligation by electronically submitting the names of newly released felons for consideration in the paperless process.

But civil rights advocates countered that the Department didn't go far enough, because an overwhelming majority of felons are rejected from that process. To get their rights back, they must apply for hearings.

Bush, however, has repeatedly refused to provide the one-page application to felons before they leave custody.

Randall Berg, executive director of the Florida Justice Institute, argued that if an application for a hearing was already on file, more people would be ready and waiting for consideration.

''I think the governor thumbed his nose at the court order and showed disrespect for the rule of law,'' he said.