Miami-Dade State Attorney Preparing Plan To Restore Voting Rights, Even If Money Is Owed
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office -- the largest prosecutor’s office in the state of Florida -- is moving forward with a plan that would soften the financial blow of state law SB 7066 that ties the restoration of voting rights to someone’s ability to pay fines, fees and restitution for a felony offense.
The controversial law was passed after Amendment 4 put an end to Florida’s lifelong ban on voting for people with felony convictions. The Amendment to the state constitution, which passed last November with 65% of votes, declared that ex-felons would “automatically” have their voting rights restored after completing “all the terms of their sentence.” The ensuing state law specified that fines, fees and restitution must be paid before someone’s sentence is completed.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle told WLRN that her office is developing a plan in collaboration with several other local agencies to help identify people who are unable to pay fines and fees and help them come up with alternatives to making payments. Hundreds of millions of dollars in fines alone are owed across the state, including $278 million in Miami-Dade County alone, WLRN has previously reported.
“We should not be an obstacle for a person who has the right to vote,” said Fernandez-Rundle. As a prosecutor, her office has the standing to to alter the terms of old cases.
https://www.wlrn.org/post/miami-dade-state-attorney-preparing-plan-restore-voting-rights-even-if-money-owed
= new reply since forum marked as read
