EX-FELONS GET HELP REGAINING CIVIL RIGHTS

State Lawmakers Have Passed Legislation That Will Give Thousands Of
Ex-Felons a Better Shot at Regaining Their Civil Rights, Including The
Right to Vote.

TALLAHASSEE - In a rare show of support for disenfranchised felons,
the Florida Legislature on Monday unanimously passed a bill requiring
county jails to help thousands of inmates apply for their civil rights
once they have paid for their crimes.

The bill, now headed to Gov. Jeb Bush for approval, closes a
little-known loophole in state law that has cost an estimated 50,000
felons since 1980 the chance to vote, serve on a jury, hold public
office or qualify for various occupational licenses.

Monday's vote represents one of the first times in state history the
Legislature has intervened on behalf of felons, who have been barred
for 137 years by the state's Constitution from regaining their most
basic rights.

Only the Florida Clemency Board, made up of the governor and Cabinet,
can restore rights to felons.

State law has required the Department of Corrections to assist felons
released from state prison or supervision with the clemency process by
automatically forwarding their names to the Clemency Board for
consideration.

But the law ignores felons released from dozens of local jails
statewide, even though most are nonviolent offenders who should have
the best shot at getting their rights back. The state largely relies
on county officials, most often sheriffs, to run and regulate jails.

The oversight was first revealed in a 2004 Herald investigation that
exposed widespread breakdowns in Florida's clemency system. The
newspaper found that since 1987, less than 2 percent of all felons who
had their rights restored came from jails.

State Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat, and Rep. Chris Smith, a
Fort Lauderdale Democrat, sponsored the legislation to close the gap.
The Senate on Monday voted 39-0 in favor of the measure.

The House earlier this month approved the bill by a 117-0
vote.

In a state with the highest number of disenfranchised voters in the
nation, the move was heralded by lawmakers and civil rights advocates.

"We still have a lot of work to do, but it's a start," Wilson said
Monday. "We're talking about helping people get back to work;
otherwise, we're setting up a permanent underclass of people who can't
get jobs. They end up resorting to crime."

Smith agreed that the action could at least "open the door to more
people getting their rights restored."

If signed by the governor, the law would require county jails to give
outgoing inmates the forms needed to regain their rights. But
applicants will still face an uphill battle.

State auditors earlier this year found the backlog of clemency
applications since 2001 has almost doubled to more than 13,000. And
the wait time is growing. To date, more than 12,000 people have waited
16 months or more for word on their applications.

The only permanent solution, civil rights advocates say, is removing
the voting ban from the state's Constitution and automatically
restoring rights to all but the most egregious felons. This year,
Wilson and other lawmakers again proposed a bill that would give
Florida voters the chance to decide the issue, but the move gained
little traction in the Legislature.

Said Reginald Mitchell, with the advocacy group People for the American
Way: "This is not a sprint. It's a marathon, and we're not going away."