Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 2-21-20

Political News
Florida Can’t Bar Ex-Felons From Voting Just Because They’re Poor, Appeals Court Rules
Florida’s ex-felons, the court declared, “are not punished in proportion to their culpability but to their wealth—equally guilty but wealthier felons are offered access to the ballot while these plaintiffs continue to be disenfranchised, perhaps forever.” By doing so, the state “unconstitutionally punishes a class of felons based only on their wealth.”
In 2018, nearly 65 percent of Floridians passed Amendment 4, repealing a Jim Crow–era constitutional provision that permanently disenfranchised individuals convicted of a felony. The amendment could have restored the franchise to as many as 1.5 million people. But shortly after it passed, Re- publican lawmakers sabotaged it, passing a law that compels ex-felons to pay back all fines, fees, and restitution imposed as part of their sentence. (The very conservative Florida Supreme Court affirmed this interpretation of Amendment 4, ruling, dubiously, that voters who approved the law knew that a “sentence” included monetary penalties.) Florida is a pioneer of “cash-register jus- tice,” funding its courts through a mind-boggling array of fees that few individuals can afford to pay in full. If upheld, the GOP law, widely derided as a poll tax, would strip suffrage from a majority of people en- franchised by Amendment 4.
Seventeen voters, repre- sented by a coalition of advo- cacy groups led by the ACLU, filed suit, alleging a violation of their constitutional rights. A federal district court found the law defective, directing Florida officials to let the 17 plaintiffs vote if they could prove their inability to pay their court-im- posed financial obligations. A three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit agreed on Wednesday
Michael Monfluery, 38, who has never been eligible to vote, stands in a courthouse corri- dor following a special court hearing aimed at restoring the right to vote under Florida’s Amendment 4 on Nov. 8 in Miami.
in Jones v. DeSantis. Its unan- imous, unsigned per curiam opinion reads as a sharp re- buke to the GOP’s quest to un- dermine Amendment 4.
“The long and short of it,” the court concluded, “is that once a state provides an avenue to ending the punishment of disenfranchisement—as the voters of Florida plainly did—it must do so consonant with the principles of equal protection.” Republicans failed that duty here. Their law flouts equality principles, because it punishes destitute ex-felons “more harshly” than wealthier people “who committed precisely the same crime.” Some individu- als receive a more severe pun- ishment not because they are more culpable but because they don’t have as much cash on hand. Florida cannot penalize poor individuals by revoking their fundamental rights. Jones is a tricky case because while voting is a fundamental right, the 14th Amendment ex- pressly permits states to disen- franchise felons. Moreover, the Supreme Court has ruled that
wealth-based discrimination is not, by itself, constitutionally suspect. But, as the 11th Circuit noted, SCOTUS has also held that wealth classifications may violate equal protection when they are applied in “the admin- istration of criminal justice and access to the franchise.” That, the court noted, is precisely what the state did here. “Florida has implemented a wealth classification,” the court explained, “that punishes those genuinely unable to pay fees, fines, and restitution more harshly than those able to pay—that is, it punishes more harshly solely on account of wealth—and it does so by with- holding access to the fran- chise.” And this “differential punishment on account of wealth strikes at the heart” of the Constitution’s “equality principle.”
Shortly after Wednesday’s decision came down, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Re- publican,announced through his communications director that he would appeal it to the 11th Circuit en banc (with every active judge sitting). Donald Trump recently flipped that court, creating a majority of Republican appointees. But there are two wrinkles that make De Santis’ success less of a sure thing. First, two of Trump’s appointees, Bar- bara Lagoa and Robert Luck, participated in oral ar- guments while serving on the Florida Supreme Court in a case questioning the scope of Amendment 4. Both judges, who expressed strong opinions about the law during those ar- guments, should recuse them- selves from Jones to forestall questions about their impar- tiality. If they do so, the court will be evenly divided between Democratic and GOP ap- pointees.
Tuesday morning, Barack Obama published a tweet marking an important anniver- sary. Alongside an image of a bill bearing his signature, the former president wrote, "Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history."
The Democrat's message had the benefit of being true. Roughly a month into his presi- dency, with the economy falling off a cliff and the nation hemor- rhaging jobs, Obama signed into law an economic stimulus pack- age, which Republicans said would never work. Almost im- mediately, the employment landscape improved; the Great Recession gave way to a recov- ery; and the economy hasn't stopped growing or adding jobs since.
That's not opinion or spin; it's just what happened.
Obama's successor, however, still desperate for credit for a re- covery he did not create, was unimpressed with the tweet. Last night, Donald Trump published one of his own.
"Did you hear the latest con job? President Obama is now trying to take credit for the Eco- nomic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration. He had the WEAKEST recovery since the Great Depression, de- spite Zero Fed Rate [and] MAS- SIVE quantitative easing. NOW, best jobs numbers ever."
I can appreciate why Trump is sensitive about this. He's based his entire presidency -- and re-election campaign -- on the idea that he's singlehandedly responsible for creating an eco- nomic nirvana unlike any ever witnessed by humans. If Ameri- cans knew the truth, the Repub- lican's political standing would be even worse than it is now, which leads to ridiculous tweets like these featuring demonstra- bly false claims.
On Economy, Trump Picks A Fight With Obama He Cannot Win
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020