ACLU Urges Florida Candidates to Clarify Position on Restoration of Civil Rights (10/20/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- In a
letter sent today to the two major party candidates for governor, the American
Civil Liberties Union of Florida urged Attorney General Charlie Crist and
Congressman Jim Davis to clarify their position on the restoration of civil and
voting rights to former felons. The ACLU is asking the candidates to make
it clear that they will use the authority of the governor to make a change in
the system of lifetime disfranchisement.
“A change in the Rules of Executive
Clemency can be accomplished on the first day of your new administration.
It is a change that you can bring to the lives of hundreds of thousands of
Floridians by a vote of you, as the new Governor, and two other members of the
Cabinet,” wrote ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon and ACLU Voting Rights
Project Director Muslima Lewis in the letter.
Under the Florida
Constitution, the loss of civil rights of individuals convicted of a felony goes
beyond the right to vote, and includes such penalties as disqualification from
almost 100 state occupational licenses. This wholesale disfranchisement of
civil rights severely hinders the ability of men and women who have paid their
debt to society to secure productive employment, thus increasing the chances of
repeat offenses, said the ACLU.
Both candidates have publicly said they
support the restoration of civil rights to former felons. However, the
ACLU noted that the state legislature has been hostile to reforming the current
system, and that the restoration of civil rights would require direct action
from the governor.
“Anything other than exercising the authority of the
Executive to modify the Rules of Executive Clemency to make the process
virtually automatic would call into question the sincerity of your commitment to
the restoration of civil rights,” Simon and Lewis wrote.
The full text of
the ACLU letter to the gubernatorial candidates is below:
October 20, 2006
Charlie Crist
420 East Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32301
Jim Davis
P.O. Box 10399
Tampa, Florida 33679
Dear Attorney General Crist and Representative Davis,
We are heartened by the news that both of you are now on record supporting
the automatic restoration of civil rights for those who have completed all the
terms and conditions of their sentence.
We look forward, when a new Governor takes office in January, to measures
that will address this overriding civil rights and voting rights crisis that has
plagued our State - the mass disfranchisement of people with previous felony
convictions.
As you know, under the Florida Constitution the restoration of civil rights
involves more than the right to vote. The loss of civil rights also includes the
disqualification from almost 100 state occupational licenses. This latter aspect
of Florida public policy is especially inexplicable as it is inconsistent with
the goals of reducing recidivism, ensuring the ability of those who are released
to secure productive employment in order to support themselves and their
families and in other ways facilitating the successful transition of former
felons from incarceration. (The loss of civil rights also includes ineligibility
to serve on a jury and to hold public office.)
We are aware that Congressman Davis has long supported the automatic
restoration of civil rights, and we welcome the recent statement of Attorney
General Crist that "If you truly do believe that if somebody has paid their debt
to society, that they've really paid their debt to society, then why not restore
their right to vote." (Associated Press, October 17, 2006)
We also note that the same Associated Press story quotes Attorney General
Crist as favoring the accomplishment of this goal by either amending the Florida
Constitution or the Rules of Executive Clemency: "The process doesn't concern
me."
The process is of great concern to us. If there was ever a situation in which
"the devil is in the details," this is it. We are very concerned about how this
gets done, because the choice of strategy may determine not only how the
restoration of civil rights is accomplished, but indeed whether it is
accomplished.
We applaud your commitment to the change in public policy that aligns Florida
with the majority of states that automatically restore civil and voting rights
after the completion of a criminal sentence. But we strongly urge that you
announce that you are prepared to address this problem by the exercise of what
will be the authority one of you will have as our new Governor - that is,
through the modification of the Rules of Executive Clemency.
A change in the Rules of Executive Clemency can be accomplished on the first
day of your new administration. It is a change that you can bring to the lives
of hundreds of thousands of Floridians by a vote of you, as the new Governor,
and two other members of the Cabinet.
Of course, the modifications in the Rules of Executive Clemency should be
reflected in the Florida Constitution. It is important that we bring our State's
Constitution into the 21st Century by amending it to remove the Civil War era
provisions mandating the lifetime loss of civil rights upon conviction of a
felony.
However, as a practical matter changing the Florida Constitution requires
action by the Legislature (and, of course, a vote of the people). We are all
aware of the Legislature's record of support for the system that has created the
mass disfranchisement problem with which our State is plagued and its resistance
to a constitutional amendment to provide for the automatic restoration of civil
rights.
Anything other than exercising the authority of the Executive to modify the
Rules of Executive Clemency to make the process virtually automatic would call
into question the sincerity of your commitment to the restoration of civil
rights.
We urge that you make it clear to the voters of Florida that you are not only
committed to addressing the injustice of the lifetime loss of civil rights, but
that you are prepared to exercise the authority you will have as our new
Governor to personally address this urgent matter.
Thank you,
Muslima Lewis
Director, Voting & Racial Justice Project
American
Civil Liberties Union of Florida
Howard Simon
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union of
Florida
cc: Mark Schlakman, Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida
State University
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