Telling Your Story: Voting Arrestee Speaks Out
A registrant arrested for voting speaks to the Orlando Sentinel and receives balanced, sympathetic coverage. “We all made bad choices in the past, when we were young. But I’m trying to make better ones. Trying to make a better life for me and my family. That’s it.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/registered-sex-offender-arrested-for-attending-event-at-rogers-high-school/ar-AA1b9hTg
That’s the type of person that makes it harder on all of us. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be there and went anyway. Is it right that we should be unable to attend a family members award or recognition ceremony ? No , but it’s one of the rules we have to go by until peoples wake up and realize these rules protect no one and strike them down. Until then everyone stay safe and beware of the wolves .
Tim it doesn’t look deliberate, it looks like he was just caught up living life and was asked to attend a family member’s event, and he didn’t have his restrictions top of mind mind at the time he went, and it bit him.
For us, it is like having a form of probation that always follows us everywhere we go. If we don’t always think about our status every day, we are bound to eventually slip up like this man and make a mistake. Truthfully, this could be any one of us on a bad day.
I dare any naysayer try to perfectly obey these onerous rules day in and day out FOR DECADES and see if you can do better than this man.
Again, retroactively applying laws as to where I can go and what I can do is taking my freedoms and that is punishment and unconstitutional.
I can sort of see a law that says they are supposed to check people coming in, but how can you retroactively make it illegal for me to be there? That is how it used to be. Then they decided to shift the burden onto me because schools weren’t following the law where they were supposed to check everyone. I have a child. I need to drop them off, meet with their teachers at least once a year, and also be able to see if they are in a safe environment. Those are my rights as a parent. I could also see if they passed these laws as “effective this date, anyone that committed a crime from that point forward cannot…”.
But to take away rights I already had with no new crime is wrong. But it’s what they do.
All this talk of reintegrating into society, and making the best you that you can be, after being released from Parole or Probation sounds good on paper. But, it turns out that there are so many things working against that goal; more so than any help that may be offered to get ” back ” into a productive citizen.
How can I feel a part of society when some of my most important rights are automatically removed.
The ” right” to live peaceably and have any form of privacy. Reminding my neighbors that I am a sex offender twice a year…and any time I am visited by the Sheriff’s Department, to help any failing memories of my neighbors as they drive by.
I am still required to pay my taxes but if you are adjudicated in Florida, you automatically loose the right to vote. I can’t own a firearm for protection from those who feel I have no right to live.
Thank God the Press is still able to see things for what they are.
The referenced article is pay walled. Reason needs to do a parallel piece on this for the rest of us.
Florida Amendment 4 must be ruled unconstitutional (as soon as someone challenges it).
It violates the federal judge’s ruling from 2018 that stated that the (then current) system in place in Florida of a governor’s tribunal as the vehicle for felon – restoration of civil rights as being clearly unconstitutional in the United States of America.
The judge specifically mentioned carveouts (when specifically addressing re-enfranchisement) in his ruling and clearly and vehemently spoke against them.
A constitutional amendment is unconstitutional? I don’t know that there’s any precedent for a court ruling to that effect.
A state constitutional amendment cannot conflict with the federal constitution.
Why is this political record of failures in the governance of SO mgmt in FL not used on the nat’l scene on the eve of Gov DeSanto’s campaign for President. Certainly these failures color an otherwise successful record of political achievements, and for me, it puts leadership skills in question.We see this failure in the draconian laws on this minority of citizens; none of these laws are supported as valid by studies and the academia, and no politician or the media are enacting legislation based on this strong evidence.These restrictions degrade and shame citizens after their sentences are served, and show NO proof of making anyone safer. In fact the denial of reentry into communities in terms of housing, jobs, no vote, take away dignity, create isolation, poverty, desperation, dependency, and broken lives.These laws serve to violate the l rights of some citizens to the free pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.Crime would likely be reduced if the policies in effect did not create the homelessness and tent-cities. This is a blight on the ineffectiveness of all those in office. Europeans refuse to submit to the blind US intimidation, when our gov’t chooses to violate its citizen’s. The selection of staff that support such egregious restrictions, does not bode well for the public service of those in office. The mishandling of all citizens seeking shelter in emergency shelters is an abomination. Sheriffs and other officials take an oath that requires them to protect and serve all citizens, and then are given resources and authority to provide reasonable protection at public assembly. Educated servants know that these people being thrown into the wind are not rabid predators. We need leaders with a proven track record to change failure, effect good governance, and improve the lives of all citizens as written by the founding fathers. https://youtu.be/KDeS-TafF50 https://youtu.be/NiuNuHKEF38
As I understand it, if you only had one felony case in Fl or in any other state and you had adjudication withheld in Fl for that case, then you can vote. But things change fast, so better check with lawyer first.
[Moderator’s note: The Florida Constitution states, “no person convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense shall be qualified to vote until restoration of civil rights”].
If you had only one felony case in Fl with “adjudication withheld” and no other felony case in other states then your civil rights were never removed. But again, things change fast. Contact a Florida lawyer that’s knows the subject.