Law Students Help Freed Felons In Suit To Regain Voting Rights

[Florida_Geek]

http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGA4QAYXWRD.html

Mar 17, 2004

Law Students Help Freed Felons In Suit To Regain Voting Rights
By BRAD SMITH
[e-mail]

TAMPA - Law students from Yale, Columbia and New York universities are in Florida this week to help some of the state's 600,000 convicted criminals regain voting rights.
Florida is among seven states that ban convicts from voting after they serve felony sentences, according to The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit criminal-justice advocacy organization.

However, about 500 clemency hearings are held annually for offenders seeking to vote again.

Felony disenfranchisement began in Florida in 1868 as part of a post-Civil War effort to restrict voting rights of freed slaves. Law students say helping former prisoners is part of a larger effort to prevent voter disenfranchisement that marred the 2000 presidential election in Florida.

..more at Tampa Trib

[Champ]

1. I'm all for this

Once you serve your time you should be considered a free man or woman.

[gottaB]

3. damn straight --Welcome to DU, Champ

:hi:

[Champ]

4. I'm not really new

I've been here since March '03. It's just that I thought my previous username was a bit outdated (VermontDem2004) so I decided to get a new one. But I appreciate the welcome. :hi:

[WoodrowFan]

6. plus

moreover, many of the 'felons' wer enot actually felons, but had the same name as a felon in another state.

[Judi Lynn]

2. No doubt tons of us Florida watchers had simply given up hope

that ANY thing would be done to reverse the deadly grip the Republicans have on that state, neutralizing so many they know aren't likely to vote for their candidates.

This is terrific news:

At the same time, Hlass is among law students from 13 campuses focusing on ``election protection'' in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Washington, Maine and Nevada.

In an organization called Impact 2004, working with the ACLU, the law students will observe voting at polling sites deemed high risk and will hand out voting material during election week in November.

In Orlando on Tuesday, students met with convicts to help with paperwork in the process of regaining voting rights. Similar sessions are scheduled from Miami to Tallahassee.
(snip)

Thanks a lot!

[Florida_Geek]

5. What I want to know Friday is

"In the capital Thursday, Florida's Executive Clemency Board, a three-member panel plus the governor, will meet to decide on the latest batch of applicants. "

How many he approved and how big the backlog is?

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. This is a wonderful idea.

Democracy is undermined when common people cannot afford attorneys. So this is a great idea for this particular problem. But we need more affordable lawyers to resolve bigger issues.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Waiting for the smears

Blah blah "standing up for criminals" blah blah blah "they should have thought of that before breaking the law" blah blah blah...

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. The Florida legislature should abolish this arcane law

But if they did, the Sec. of State wouldn't have any excuse to prevent over 19,000 eligible voters from exerting their right to vote.

The right to vote is the most important component of a functioning democracy. Anyone who would deny us that right is a traitor and should be removed from office.