NEW NICKNAME FOR GOVERNOR

Just in case anyone thought that he was being soft on crime by
seeking to automatically restore voting rights for some felons, Gov.
Charlie Crist reminded people who he is: "I'm Chain Gang Charlie."

When Crist served in the Florida Senate from St. Petersburg, he was
given the "Chain Gang Charlie" nickname for a proposal to put inmates
in chains to do roadside cleanup and other chores. Wanting to take
the state back to the "Cool Hand Luke" days earned him criticism and
praise - and the nickname.

"I'm Charlie Crist," he said in a campaign ad last year. "In the
Florida Senate, they called me 'Chain Gang Charlie' for a reason - I
made hard time HARD for criminals." He also pressed for them to serve
at least 85 percent of their prison sentences at a time when many
served less because of prison overcrowding, and time off for good
behavior and other offsets.

Yet here is Chain Gang, talking to his fellow Cabinet members, who
were sitting as the state Executive Clemency Board, last week:
"Justice delayed is justice denied, and people are waiting. ... It is
significant that we visit this issue this week - this holy week, a
week that is all about forgiveness. The debt for a person's wrongs
can be paid in full. People can be forgiven by their Creator."

Florida is one of three states in the nation (Virginia and Kentucky
are the other two) that does not automatically restore voting rights
for felons who have served their time. Calling it "simple human
justice," Crist proposed that Florida change its system.

His effort proved successful. He was supported in the 3-1 vote by
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, a Republican, and Chief
Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat. Attorney General Bill
McCollum, also a Republican, voted against it, saying it was "a grave mistake."

But the compromises in the final measure hardly open the floodgates
for the tsunami of horrors McCollum paraded around. Automatic
restoration of rights includes the right to serve on a jury and the
right to vote. It does not include the right to own a firearm.

Those who have been convicted of one of a list of more than 30 crimes
will not be eligible to automatically have rights restored. They
still must go through the lengthy petition process.

And Bronson successfully amended the measure so that if a felon whose
rights have been restored commits a second crime, he or she will have
to wait 10 years before having rights restored again.

Corrections Secretary James McDonough said that, of the 38,000 cases
pending before the Florida Parole Commission, more than 30,000 would
be eligible for automatic restoration.

And although there isn't general agreement on exactly how many
eligible ex-felons are out there, nearly all agree the number exceeds
500,000. McDonough said the corrections system will try to locate
those who are eligible so they can have their rights restored quickly.

Not everyone was happy. Howard Simon, state head of the American
Civil Liberties Union, said while the governor was to be commended,
rights would not be restored unless complete restitution payments had
been made to victims, which would prove a burden.

Crist took the criticism in stride. "I felt I was duty-bound to do
the very best I could," Crist told The Miami Herald. "I try to do as
much as I can given the constraints we had to deal with."

It's a sentiment Crist had earlier this month, when he was lobbying
behind the scenes to gain support for the rights-restoration plan.
"It's not everything I would like," he said. "But it's a huge step in
the right direction, to at least get the ball rolling."

Spokesmen for both Sink and Bronson said the restitution angle needed
to be included in the final proposal if Crist expected their support.

And Crist noted that the Clemency Board can still restore rights on a
case-by-case basis, even if money hasn't been repaid. As an example,
he cited the case of Lisa Burford, who served 30 days in jail as a
young woman for stealing money from the bank where she worked. She
has $25,000 in restitution to make, but her desire to be a nurse
can't happen until her rights are restored. Other jobs have been
unattainable as well.

"There's somebody who truly is trying to be productive and do the
right thing," Crist told the St. Petersburg Times' editorial board
this month, "and we're going to say no to her?"

It looks as if "Chain Gang Charlie" has been replaced by "Second
Chance Charlie."