|
|
Home :
Voting Rights
:
Felon Enfranchisement
ACLU of Florida Says Gov. Bush's Task Force Overlooks Impact of Felon Disenfranchisement (4/26/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
 |
MIAMI, FL - The
American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said today that it applauds Governor
Bush’s willingness to look at one of the problems created by disenfranchisement.
At the same time, the organization noted that the root cause of ineffective
reentry efforts for ex-offenders is the automatic stripping of the civil rights
of ex-felons.
“It is startling that the Governor seeks to address
problems associated with the employment of former offenders and their reentry
into our communities and at the same time ignore the underlying cause of the
problem,” said Howard Simon, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) of Florida. “It is the Civil War-era system of loss of civil rights
and lifetime disenfranchisement, depriving people of the right to vote and their
eligibility for almost a hundred state occupational licenses that must be
addressed.”
Executive Order 06-89, signed yesterday by Gov.
Jeb Bush, follows up on a Task Force directed to improve the way Florida helps
ex-offenders restart their lives and reduce the rates of repeat offenses.
However, without restoration of civil rights, persons with felony convictions
cannot obtain many state occupational licenses.
“There are
approximately 89 professions or occupations that require Florida state
licensure, which means that individuals who have completed all terms of their
sentence may not be able to provide for their families and themselves once they
return to our communities,” said Laleh Ispahani, Voting Rights Fellow for the
national ACLU. . “Disenfranchisement disproportionately affects minority
and poor communities, and it is these communities that need to have barriers to
employment removed and have a strong voice in the political process through
voting.”
The inability for an ex-felon to obtain a work license is
merely a symptom of the unfair denial of basic rights. Many of the 600,000
ex-offenders living in Florida continue to be deprived of basic civil
rights such as the right to vote and the right to work. Florida’s state
Constitution is one of only three in the U.S. that automatically strips
ex-felons of their civil rights, making it difficult for them to re-integrate as
productive members of society. Working to support themselves and their families
is equally as important as the right to vote; and being an active, participating
member of the community helps with rehabilitation.
“This problem
deserves an honest analysis,” said Simon. “The Governor cannot instruct state
agencies to identify barriers to employment for former felons and not also look
carefully at the constitutional provision requiring lifetime disenfranchisement
and loss of civil rights.”
The ability to vote is a fundamental
right that is currently denied to ex-felons, and Gov. Bush refuses to seek a
real solution, the ACLU said. The answer lies in changing the Constitution to
automatically restore civil rights to ex-felons, not to grant certain rights and
continue to deny others.
The ACLU of Florida is a member of
the national Right to Vote coalition and the Florida Rights Restoration
Coalition, which both work toward constitutional reform to end felon
disenfranchisement and to restore the essential rights to which ex-felons are
entitled.
|
|
|
