Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 7-24-20

Feature
Supreme Court Blocks Felons From Voting In August Election
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
After 42 years, Clifford Tyson had his first opportu- nity to cast a ballot in a politi- cal election. He was able to vote in the City of Tampa Elec- tion. That was in March, 2019.
From that point, he be- lieved he was well on the way to being a voting citizen. That is until last week when a di- vided U. S. Supreme Court on Thursday (July 16) upheld an appellate court’s decision to temporarily block hundreds of thousands of Florida felons from voting.
In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Jus- tices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, said the order “continues a trend of condoning disfranchisement.”
“This court’s order pre- vents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participat-
ing in Florida’s primary elec- tion simply because they are poor,” Justice Sotomayor wrote.
Monday, July 20th, was the deadline to register to vote in the upcoming Primary Elec- tion, August 18th. However, the ruling denied thousands of Florida felons from being able to vote.
The ruling lets stand a stay issued by the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing a ruling by a Tallahassee federal district court judge that ordered the state to give felons access to the ballot box under a voter- approved initiative known as Amendment 4.
Pastor Tyson became part of a lawsuit filed that chal- lenged the rights of felons to vote unless they paid court fines and fees. The lawsuit, filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
was looking forward to voting again. However, I do believe we are going to come through this OK. I believe the law is on our side.
“The Court won’t hear this again until August 18th, which
is Election Day. Those who are not registered, I will continue to encourage them to get reg- istered for the November Elec- tion; who knows, the August 18th decision may be in our favor.”
PASTOR CLIFFORD TYSON
the Brennan Center for Jus- tice, and the National Associa- tion for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educa- tional Fund, alleges the fees requirement defies the will of Florida voters and amounts to an illegal poll tax on newly en- franchised Florida felons, many of them minorities.
According to Pastor Tyson Thursday’s decision was “devastating because I
Man Charged With Beating Death Of Infant
On December 11, 2019, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Tampa man. He was charged with aggra- vated battery on a pregnant woman.
Enrico LaQuan Adams, Jr., has been housed at the Hillsborough County Jail since that arrest. Last Thursday, the Tampa Police Department added the charges of first-de- gree murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse, and ag- gravated child abuse. He is being held without bond.
On November 30, 2019, de- tectives with the Tampa Police Department investigated the death of a one-year-old baby boy. The child was found cold and unresponsive. He was transported from his apart- ment in the 4200 block of Ken- neth Court, to Tampa General Hospital, where he was pro- nounced deceased. There were no obvious signs of trauma at the time.
During the investigation, detectives interviewed the child’s mother and Adams. They were able to determine that the child’s mother was not at home when the child was in- jured.
According to the Crime Re- port Affidavit, “Both confirmed that the mother was away from the home and had no contact with the victim upon her re- turn. The defendant (Adams) stated that he was the only per-
ENRICO LAQUAN ADAMS, JR.
son in the apartment and the only person in contact with the victim.”
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office completed an autopsy and ruled the infant’s death as a homicide.
The Medical Examiner’s re- port stated the infant had mas- sive injuries to his internal organs due to blunt force trauma. His injuries included lacerations to his pancreas, fractures to his spine and pelvis in addition to other injuries.
“The injuries had to have been sustained by either his ab- domen or back being against a hard surface and suffering hard blows to the opposite side,” the report stated.
Adams reportedly had no explanation for how the victim sustained his injuries, but ac- knowledged that he was the only person with the child, polie said.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020