Felons line up to apply for voting rights

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/07/27/Southpinellas/Felons_line_up_to_app.shtml

Dozens fill out forms they hope will lead to the restoration of rights they lost when convicted.
By MARCUS FRANKLIN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 27, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG - From his cell at the Pinellas County Jail, George Richard McCaffrety envisions becoming a nurse after his scheduled release next month.

But McCaffrety, who was convicted this year of grand theft, knows his goal may be easier pronounced than accomplished in a state that bans felons from voting and working in certain jobs. Those rights can be restored, but only through an application process some have criticized as arduous and slow, if not unfair.

On Saturday, McCaffrety and dozens of others with felony convictions formed long lines at a workshop to help them begin the process. They filled out applications with the help of lawyers and activists working on the issue and asked questions.

"I'm really concerned about being able to vote and work when I get out - working, most of all," McCaffrety, 57, said after completing his application. He attended the workshop with five others and a chaperone from the jail's life skills program.

MORE>>

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is there anything in the constitution that speaks to the issue of felons losing their voting rights? personally, i don't see why a felon loses his voting rights at all while serving, and really don't understand why they aren't automatically restored after finishing their sentence.

i can see how the RWers would approve, since vast numbers of felons are minorities the might vote dem., but where is the dem. party on this issue?

giving government the power to strip its subjects of voting rights is transparently a recipe for bad government.

it's not about criminals deserving the right to vote. it's about GOVERNMENT not deserving the right to take it away.

so i was curious about what that document says on the subject. it may be a constitutional issue, but nobody seems eager to take it up.

Thousands on men live in a community, are counted towards representation in that community, and hove no right to vote in that community.

Look at any area surrounding a prison. The population is usually small, but the census count is huge. The people outside the prison use the clout of having all of those prisoners counted towards their political power and end up with disproportional representation in political bodies.

This is unfair on so many levels it stinks.

I believe felons in prison should have the right to vote while in prison. Not many will, but they have the opportunity for a voice the representation that their existance in the region allows.

verrry interesting...

I'll ask the mods to lock my thread. Just want to bring these numbers from the article over here, if you don't mind.

a backlog of 30,000
95% denied
process can take several years
500,000 people

and another article from the Orlando Sentinel:

"Courtenay Strickland, director of the ACLU's voting-rights project, said Florida is one of just six states that does not automatically restore rights after sentences are served. She calls it a state "civil-rights crisis."

"It's pretty shocking," Strickland said in a phone interview. "The bottom line is Florida spends a lot of money and puts people through a lot of effort in a process most states find unnecessary."
Sentinel article on workshops

What are the other states that have this law? The number of people whose rights have not been restored is absolutely staggering. The backlog is unacceptable. The Orlando article mentioned that the clemency board for the cases that require a hearing meets only 4 days a year.

The good news is the drive to get this issue on the 2004 ballot. Personally, I think that once a person serves their time and re-enters society, their civil rights should automatically be restored.

and yes - there is an agenda here.

"roughly 90% vote Democratic"
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=122&row=1