Federal Judge guts Florida law requiring felons to pay fines before they can vote

[Orwell]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-judge-guts-florida-law-requiring-felons-to-pay-fines-before-they-can-vote/2020/05/24/a7f553ba-9c3a-11ea-a2b3-5c3f2d1586df_story.html

This is a major victory for voting rights

[T'Chenka]

Literally a freedom fighter.

FF Florida Man is an elusive bloke, be he pops his head up here and there.

[Orwell]

For those who don't know how big this is here are some quick notes

10.43% of the Florida population is disenfranchised
1,686,318 total Floridians are disenfranchised.
Florida has the most disenfranchised citizens in the United States.
Florida has the highest disenfranchisement rate in the United States.
23.3% of black voters in Florida can’t vote because of felony disenfranchisement.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Excellent news! There is some sanity in Florida after all!

[emailking]

Good! Sounds like a poll tax. There might be other avenues of recouping the funds that are appropriate but restricting the right to vote should not be one of them.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Unfortunately it will be overturned by SCOTUS.
Just watch.

[brucejoel99]

Thank you, your Honor, for upholding our vote to grant the vote to former felons who've already done their time & repaid their debt to society.

[Orwell]

Unfortunately it will be overturned by SCOTUS.
Just watch.

Will it be before November tho?

[Tender Branson]

The fact that this was even debated shows what an undemocratic junta is in place in Florida.

Every criminal should be able to vote after a sentence is completed (or should even be allowed to vote IN prison or under parole, if the sentence is no longer than a year).

Good that the Judge struck this down.

[lfromnj]

Unfortunately it will be overturned by SCOTUS.
Just watch.

Will it be before November tho?

11th circuit will put a stay on it in a few weeks.

[ibagli]

The fact that this was even debated shows what an undemocratic junta is in place in Florida.

The really aggravating thing was that even with the reforms intact, Florida was still near the bottom tier in terms of voting rights for felons. Some are still disenfranchised for life, and re-enfranchisement doesn't kick in until parole and probation are completed. That was probably needed to get above the 60% threshold, but it's still annoying that even that extremely punitive new law wasn't bad enough and they had to find a way to make it worse.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I am praying this will stand, and not be re-reversed.  DeSantis's actions are, indeed, a form of a poll tax, and (arguably) a "debtor's prison", which is expressly prohibited by Florida's Constitution.

I would have a generally positive opinion of Ron DeSantis, were it not for this issue.  DeSantis is like the neighbor you have who comes off as a good enough person, but you know he treats one of his kids like a male version of Cinderella.  Like an unwanted stepkid.  There is no reason, other than politics, to do what DeSantis has done here, and it colors my image of him.