https://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/20190327/editorial-florida-gops-add-ons-threaten-amendment-4
We’ve said all along that the Florida Legislature had no business meddling with Amendment 4, the ballot measure intended to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million Floridians who have served sentences for felonies.
And now the Legislature is showing why.
No other state has excluded as many of its citizens from the vote because of criminal convictions as has Florida. And on Nov. 6, a robust 64 percent of voters cast ballots to wipe away this generation-old injustice, approving the amendment that grants “automatic” restoration of voting rights to felons “who have completed all terms of their sentence, including parole or probation,” but not those “convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense.”
The language is so plain that the measure should be, as its authors say, “self-implementing.” No more should be required of ex-felons than that they register to vote as any other citizen, on pain of penalties if they submit an untruthful application.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis insisted that the Legislature pass a law setting out the terms under which the amendment’s requirements are met. And now we are witnessing a breathtaking GOP counterattack against this potentially huge expansion of the voting rolls.
On March 19, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee summoned ugly echoes of Jim Crow-era poll taxes by approving, along party lines, a bill that would require felons to pay any outstanding fines and fees before regaining the right to vote.
This is no minor detail. According to WLRN, an average 83 percent of the money levied each year by state courts is deemed as having “minimal collections expectations,” meaning it won’t be paid back because those convicted are too poor. In Palm Beach County alone, a total $195.8 million is owed in unpaid fines stemming from felony convictions (including interest) for all past years, according to the Clerk and Comptroller’s office.
In many cases these fines are not part of the sentence imposed by judges, but administrative fees assessed by court clerks. Because of a 1998 constitutional amendment, Florida (and only Florida) requires courts to be funded entirely by fines and fees -- even though no one expects most defendants to produce the money.
What’s more, the uncollected fines often become greatly inflated because Florida allows debt collectors to add commissions of 25 percent to 40 percent to the initial amounts.
Those least able to pay, of course, are poor people and people of color -- the very people who Republican lawmakers in many states have been striving to discourage from the political process by various means of voter suppression.
Even under the severely restrictive restoration process of Gov. Rick Scott’s Clemency Board, former felons were only required to pay back restitution to their victim prior to applying to have their rights restored. That’s right. In this respect, the House bill is harder on ex-offenders than Scott was.
A Senate version of the bill -- passed out of committee on Monday with amendments from Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg -- eases the House restrictions somewhat. If fines or fees are converted to a civil lien, as often happens, the felon can get back voting rights. Restitution, however, must be paid in full, even if converted to a civil lien.
As two witnesses who related their personal stories testified, those sums for restitution can be as daunting as $190,000 and as completely unreachable as $59 million. That’s tantamount to a lifetime ban on voting.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee, however, rejected an amendment from Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, that would have considered any financial obligation satisfied if the debt is part of an established payment plan or converted to a civil lien; voting rights would be denied only if “the nonpayment is deemed to be willful and substantial by the court.”
The sponsors of Amendment 4 did say that restitution, fines and fees should be considered part of a criminal sentence; Jon Mills, dean emeritus of the University of Florida’s law school, testified to that before the Florida Supreme Court. But as the League of Women Voters of Florida pointed out, when a judge converts a fee or restitution to a civil lien, it becomes a civil matter and no longer criminal; the sentence should be considered completed.
But finances aren’t the only obstacles. The Senate bill also broadens the definition of “murder” to include attempted murder. Is that really what voters thought the ballot question intended?
Leave it to the House to find yet another way to water down Amendment 4 -- by expanding the interpretation of “felony sex offenses” to include not just the egregious crimes the phrase suggests, but dozens of other things as well: being convicted of prostitution three times, cyberstalking, locating an adult entertainment store within 2,500 feet of a school.
The Senate, more reasonably, defines “felony sex offenses” as the kind of crimes that require registration as a sexual offender.
It’s worth remembering that before this session started, House Speaker Jose Oliva said of Amendment 4: “I want to make sure that the intent and the will of the people is carried out... What technical distinctions and definitions we create will only be supported so long as they are not outside the intent of the will of the people.”
Oh, really?
Far from heeding the will of the people, GOP members -- in the House, especially -- seem to be willfully squelching the voting power of groups they suspect will vote Democratic.
If the lawmakers don’t shift course dramatically, they’ll be negating the judgment of 5.1 million Florida voters that felons who’ve done their time deserve better than a lifetime ban on voting. This is far beyond meddling. It’s an outrage.
