Restoration Of Rights Much Slower Than Promised, Or, How Many Even Know?
This morning's St. Petersburg Times has an excellent article by political writer Adam C. Smith which deals with an important issue, that of restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons who have served their time and paid restitution.
While I encourage everyone to click on the link to read the entire piece, there are some interesting facts to consider:
1) A St. Petersburg Times analysis found that while some 88,000 former nonviolent felons are newly eligible to cast a ballot for the first time in this presidential election, less than 10 percent, or roughly 8,200, were registered to vote as of the end of May.
2) The move to restore rights was originally expected to impact between 250,000 and 300,000 offenders. In reality, the number turns out to be closer to 115,000, once all the certificates get signed by the clemency board, according to the Florida Parole Commission.
3) Of those, at least 30,000 are African-American, a number that could be of greater significance in a year when an African-American candidate will be on the ballot for the first time as the nominee of a major party.
4) More than half of the ex-offenders whose rights have been restored are registered as Democrats, about 4,500, according to a Times analysis. There are 1,700 registered as Republicans and 1,500 registered with no party affiliation.
5) The state has faced major problems notifying many ex-offenders of their new rights. Law enforcement and corrections agencies provided the Parole Commission with the most current addresses available for ex-offenders, but many had moved. Many restoration certificates have been returned to the commission as undeliverable.
6) The state compared the list of eligible former felons to a Social Security database to purge those who had died. Nonetheless, the Times found at least six dead felons who had recently earned automatic restoration of rights.
And, no surprise here, the Parole Commission had to cut 24 positions as the cut-and-slash Legislature eliminated $2 million in funding --- far more than any criminal justice agency --- knowing full well that their workload would be going up with the civil rights changes. Only $50,000 was budgeted last year for the Commission to run seminars which would inform ex-offenders about their restoration or rights, and as a result employees volunteered their time on weekends because the money simply wasn't enough.
The agency printed posters touting a toll-free hotline where ex-offenders could call for more information, which was supposed to be answered by two multilingual contract staffers. But the agency lost funding last year. Now the help-line phone just rings, or gets answered along with all the other calls that come into the agency.
"It'll be answered eventually." That quote is from Parole Commission spokesperson Jane Tillman.
While I encourage everyone to click on the link to read the entire piece, there are some interesting facts to consider:
1) A St. Petersburg Times analysis found that while some 88,000 former nonviolent felons are newly eligible to cast a ballot for the first time in this presidential election, less than 10 percent, or roughly 8,200, were registered to vote as of the end of May.
2) The move to restore rights was originally expected to impact between 250,000 and 300,000 offenders. In reality, the number turns out to be closer to 115,000, once all the certificates get signed by the clemency board, according to the Florida Parole Commission.
3) Of those, at least 30,000 are African-American, a number that could be of greater significance in a year when an African-American candidate will be on the ballot for the first time as the nominee of a major party.
4) More than half of the ex-offenders whose rights have been restored are registered as Democrats, about 4,500, according to a Times analysis. There are 1,700 registered as Republicans and 1,500 registered with no party affiliation.
5) The state has faced major problems notifying many ex-offenders of their new rights. Law enforcement and corrections agencies provided the Parole Commission with the most current addresses available for ex-offenders, but many had moved. Many restoration certificates have been returned to the commission as undeliverable.
6) The state compared the list of eligible former felons to a Social Security database to purge those who had died. Nonetheless, the Times found at least six dead felons who had recently earned automatic restoration of rights.
And, no surprise here, the Parole Commission had to cut 24 positions as the cut-and-slash Legislature eliminated $2 million in funding --- far more than any criminal justice agency --- knowing full well that their workload would be going up with the civil rights changes. Only $50,000 was budgeted last year for the Commission to run seminars which would inform ex-offenders about their restoration or rights, and as a result employees volunteered their time on weekends because the money simply wasn't enough.
The agency printed posters touting a toll-free hotline where ex-offenders could call for more information, which was supposed to be answered by two multilingual contract staffers. But the agency lost funding last year. Now the help-line phone just rings, or gets answered along with all the other calls that come into the agency.
"It'll be answered eventually." That quote is from Parole Commission spokesperson Jane Tillman.
