PROFESSIONAL LICENCES LAW WILL HELP EX-FELONS FIND WORK, STAY OUT OF PRISON

It's an obvious point, but ex-felons need jobs when they get out of
prison. To find jobs, some former prisoners will need to acquire
professional licenses.

If ex-felons don't find jobs, they are more likely to become repeat
offenders, returning to Florida's prisons and costing the taxpayers
more money.

A number of Florida jobs -- even barbering -- require state licenses.
But until recently, felons couldn't get those licenses. They carried a
figurative ball and chain as they faced the challenge of re-entering
society.

But Gov. Rick Scott changed much of that on June 21 when he signed
Senate Bill 146, which allows ex-convicts to get vocational licenses
and government work permits, even as they have to wait for other
rights and privileges, such as voting.

Scott and the Legislature did the right thing in reforming the
process. They have uncoupled the economic privileges of occupational
licensing from the restoration of other rights.

Felons deservedly lose their rights and privileges when they break the
law. But the issue of when to return those rights and privileges has
always been a thorny one for states. As many as 4 million U.S.
citizens lack the right to vote because they are ex-felons, according
to The New York Times.

But the issue of voting is another debate. Ex-felons can now get their
lives back on track by getting licenses to practice such work as
cosmetology, barbering and machinery repair. Most states license those
activities. Barring felons from holding vocational licenses is not a
smart tactic if the state's goal is to rehabilitate offenders.

It took time to achieve this sensible reform. The Senate acted in
2008, but the House of Representatives did not move on the bill.

But this time, lawmakers such as state Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona
Beach, who proposed his version of the reform, got the bill through
the Legislature. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Scott supported the
change.

Now Bondi and other state officials must grapple with the larger
question of when ex-felons and nonviolent offenders should get other
civil rights restored after they leave prison. Scott and Bondi believe
ex-felons should wait several years before applying for the
restoration of the rest of their civil rights. The NAACP and the ACLU
vigorously oppose the state policy on rights-restoration.

This is an important debate that raises questions about how to strike
the proper balance between punishment and rehabilitation.