Hey, Charlie - Mr. 'Sits on the Board' - 35,427 clemency cases backlogged

[soup]

Good article here

A Felony Is A Crime That Steals Votes

>>Clemmer is hardly the first person to rue mistakes made as a teenager - especially in Florida, one of only three states that deny civil rights to felons permanently and completely.

Her situation mirrors thousands of others, said Muslima Lewis, director of voting rights and racial justice projects at the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

"A person commits a felony in their youth, and they pay for it for the rest of their lives," she said. "It becomes a lifelong sentence."

The state's clemency process is a Florida felon's only means of reclaiming rights such as holding certain occupational licenses, carrying a firearm and, of course, voting. The state parole commission oversees applications for clemency, which may require hearings before the governor and state Cabinet.<<
http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBUM2K1STE.html

edit to correct thread title and to add

Blasting Crist's voting rights reversal

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, several black officials denounced Charlie Crist's "180 degree turn" on felons voting, saying he is a political opportunist who will stop at nothing to get elected.

"With two weeks to the election, it is Charlie come late. Not even lately. Just late," said state Rep. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville. She said the suggestion voters could be "bought off by a sudden change of heart is extremely insulting."

"I think we’re seeing (Crist) for what he really is, one who will do whatever it takes to win an election, a real opportunist," said state Rep. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, D-Miami.

Crist said Tuesday that he now supports automatic restoration of voting rights for ex-convicts. He denied it was timed for the election.He previously said he wanted to streamline the process but not grant automatic restoration. Jim Davis, his Democratic opponent, has long supported automatic restoration.
>snip<

The clemency office Wednesday reported a current backlog of 35,427 cases as of July 1. That includes 29,786 cases where civil rights can be restored administratively without a hearing or full investigation.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2006/10/black_leaders_b.html

[iamjoy]

1. It Makes Me Want To Scream

:banghead:

some of these Republicans, they will say anything to get elected. Dubya does the same thing, he claims to support something, but takes no action (or takes the opposite action). Or they want to "study" the idea. :eyes:

How can people not see that Crist is a do nothing empty suit? Why doesn't Chain Gang Charlie just admit he doesn't believe in automatic clemency? At least I could respect him.

I believe in clemency too, but it used to be a sort of weak belief. I guess when I heard felon I had this image of rapists and people who rob the 7-11 with guns voting. I still thought they should be able to vote; it was just hard to muster a lot of sympathy and outrage for them. But hearing about an otherwise smart girl who did a very stupid thing (lots of us do stupid things as teenagers, we're just lucky and don't get caught) being barred from enjoying life to its fullest is obscene.

Would an Executive Order from the governor work or would we have to change the Constitution for this to happen though? Because if so and Amendment 3 passes, people like Melissa are totally screwed. The strict law and order types would play off people's emotions of rapists voting. I think it would be hard enough to get 50% of the people to agree, unless ACORN took it on. ACORN can be very effective, they got that minimum wage to pass even though the FRA and Chamber of Commerce fought it bitterly.

[soup]

2. What initially made me post this, and made me really angry

was that Ms. Clemmer applied for clemency because she wanted to go to nursing school, but couldn't.

That 'little bit' of the entire issue (beside being barred from voting) makes me see red. How on earth can a person be rehabilitated and get on with their lives, if the path to a successful future is blocked by these archaic laws?

They are literally serving a life sentence, no matter the reason they were in trouble in the first place.

My own beliefs on clemency were cemented because of a personal interest. One of our sons could very easily have been in the same situation - given that same life sentence for dumb-ass things he did as a teenager. We ended up spending $4,000.00 for an attorney we could ill-afford to keep the word 'ex-felon' from being attached to his name forever.

But, generally speaking, I don't see it as an issue that too many people have even considered, let alone have much sympathy for. As you said, the word 'felon' and the immediate images it invokes are ugly.

I also don't see the laws changing in FL unless there is a 'change of the guard', or legislation is passed on a national scale (which would also entail a 'changing of the guard').

*sigh.

If you have a block of time, and the inclination, there's an exceptionally good article about this here:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_2001_Jan/ai_69795097/print

[seafan]

3. How this empty suit squeaked by, for so long, on so little....

Sheesh.