Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Alexandra Shields
ENC 1101-0012
8 November 2018
Floridians are currently enthralled by the issue of millions of their fellow citizens not
On HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Oliver talks about Leon Gillis and says
that “He had served time for robbery and drug convictions but had been clean for eight years and
was running a drug rehab program when he made his case to the board in 2011. Rick Scott
actually commended him for the progress that he'd made, and then said this
Scott: “So at this point I’m going to deny your restoration of civil rights.”
Scott: “I’m not sure. And if, um, you know it, um, I think every case is different.”
Gillis: “Well what should I do with my life then? If I’m doing everything I’m supposed
to do, and I’m trying and I’m making sure that I do everything I’m supposed to do, then
Scott: “I couldn’t tell you that answer but if, uh, today, I don’t feel comfortable doing
it.”
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On November 6th, 2018, Floridians will be lining up to vote in the general election,
except for 1.5 million people, approximately 10% of Florida’s population, who can’t vote
according to Gabby Deutch from The Atlantic. Ex-felons, like Leon Gills, cannot vote even after
having served their sentence. This is because of a loophole imbedded in the 13th amendment that
Loophole Part 1
Following the Civil War, with racial tensions high after the passing of the 13th
Amendment, many state legislators, especially in the South wanted to deny newly freed slaves
their new constitutional right to vote. When poll taxes and literacy tests weren’t enough to
accomplish this, they turned their attention to the loophole in the 13th amendment that denied
Florida changed its constitution in 1868 to include the 13th Amendment. In doing so the
legislators used that one loophole to target newly freed slaves. State legislature began passing
laws that would target African Americans. These strict laws were so powerful that, by 1958,
“just seven African Americans were registered to vote out of 10,930 black adults in one Florida
county” (“New Reports Tracks History and Impact of Florida’s Strict Criminal
Disenfranchisement Law”). This power helped support some representatives in their efforts to
deny black people their constitutional right to vote. It also helped white majority states’
The effects of that loophole in 13th Amendment can still be seen in Florida today. Unlike
other states, “Florida has the highest disenfranchisement rate in the country” (“Voting Rights
Restoration Efforts in Florida”). Disfranchisement laws can widely vary from state to state. But
only three states in the United States, have permanent disenfranchisement laws for people
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convicted of a crime (“Criminal Disenfranchisement Law Across the United States”). Their
states make it almost impossible for ex-felons to get their voting rights restored. If you look at
the picture from The Brennan Center for Justice.org below, it shows how the various states
address restoring voting rights as of 2018. Most states restore voting rights after ex-felons
complete their full sentences. Two states do not even have any Disenfranchisement laws. While
most states restore voting rights easily, Florida is much more restrictive. “Gov. Scott’s
administration had restored voting rights to fewer than 2,000 Floridians statewide, while over
20,000 applications remained pending” (“Voting Rights Restoration Efforts in Florida”). Voting
restrictions weren’t always this difficult. With the election of Charlie Crist in the year 2007,
Governor Charlie Crist took the first step towards revising the rules of executive
clemency. Governor Crist’s changes helped restore voting rights for nonviolent ex-felons after
they served their sentences. “A year later, in 2008, Gov. Crist’s office announced that over
115,000 Floridians had regained voting rights since the new rules were implemented” (“Voting
rights restoration in Florida”). Although Florida still had disenfranchisement laws, Governor
Charlie Crist paved the way for new reforms to help certain ex-felons get their voting rights
restored. It seemed that Florida was making progress toward enfranchising all of its citizens.
However, in 2011 with Republicans in charge of the Florida legislator, and the Governorship,
they began to pass laws to make it hard for Floridians to vote, especially young people and
people of color.
Following the 2010 midterm elections, many Republican controlling state legislatures
began to make voting more difficult for everyone, not just prisoners. It was difficult to find the
true reason for why Republicans controlled legislator were making it hard to vote. One
Republican senator in Florida named Mike Bennett said, "Do you read the stories about the
people in Africa? The people in the desert, who literally walk two and three hundred miles so
they can have the opportunity to do what we do, and we want to make it more convenient? How
much more convenient do you want to make it? Do we want to go to their house? Take the
polling booth with us? (Sharockman, “Voting Should be tough, lawmaker says—just like in
Africa).” But the reason most Republican senators cited the need to do voting reform was in
order to prevent voter fraud. An article published in The New York Times stated, “Election
experts say minorities, poor people and students — who tend to skew Democratic — are among
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those least likely to have valid driver’s licenses, the most prevalent form of identification. Older
people, another group less likely to have licenses, are swing voters” (Alvarez, “Republican
Legislators Push to Tighten Voting Rules”). Many Republicans will say that these new voting
laws are necessary to protect America’s Democracy. However, if you look at the statistic, these
laws disproportionately affect minorities, the poor, and young people. Making it harder for
When Governor Rick Scott was elected into office in 2011, he followed his fellow party
members. He decreased the number of polling places, shortened the number of early voting days,
and making it harder for people to register to vote (Alvarez, “Republican Legislators Push to
Tighten Voting Rules”). To no surprise, not only did these measures make it difficult for people
to vote in Florida, but Governor Scott also changed all of Gov. Charlie Crist’s clemency reform.
BrennanCenterforJustice.org stated, “The current clemency rules… are the most restrictive in
several administrations.” Governor Rick Scott got rid of the new progressive reform, in order to
follow his fellow Republican plan to make voting harder for Americans. His new reform has hurt
a significant amount of ex-felon who are ready to have their voting rights restored.
As Governor Rick Scott explained in 2016 to one man about why he was denied his
requested to have his voting rights restored, he stated, “Clemency is — there's no standard,"
Scott said. "We can do whatever we want. But it's ... tied to remorse. And ... understanding that
we all want to live in a law-abiding society" (qtd. Greg Allen, NPR). The Florida Clemency
Board is a small council made up of Gov. Rick Scott and the Attorney General, the Chief
Financial Officer and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In order for ex-
felon to receive a hearing with the Clemency Board he or she must first wait between 5 to 10
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years, depending on the type of clemency he or she are requesting. The Clemency Board only
meet 3 or 4 times a year. This limited meeting schedule makes it almost impossible for an ex-
felon to get a hearing. If an ex-felon is lucky enough to get a hearing, there are no guide lines
that the Florida Clemency Board as to follows. Like Governor Rick Scott said there’s are no
standard that they have to follow. They decide based on what they think or how they feel – just
like a student deciding whether or not they feel like coming to class. On the Clemency Board
Website, called fcor.state.fl.us, there is a page that will have a link titled “Rules of Executive
Clemency.” In the first paragraph it states, “Clemency is an act of mercy that absolves the
individual upon whom it is bestowed from all or any part of the punishment that the law
imposes.” There are no Federal rules that the board has to follow. They don’t have to give a
reason why a person was denied their right to vote. “More than 150,000 Floridians had their
voting rights restored during Crist's four years in office. In the seven years since then, Rick Scott
has approved restoring voting rights to just over 3,000 people” (Allen).
Earlier I talked about Leon Gillis. He tried to regain his voting rights back in 2011 but
was denied. I looked up Leon Gillis to see what he was up to and see how he was affected by not
getting his vote rights back. Unfortunately, Leon Gillis III sadly passed away at the age of 66
right before his birthday in 2016(Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Leon Gillis III Obituary”). I
searched to find if he ever had his voting rights restored. I would like to say yes, but
unfortunately that might not be the case. If you go to the Clemency Board’s website,
fcor.state.fl.us, it will state if you are denied by the Clemency Board to regain your voting rights.
You can re-apply but must wait 2 years to even summit an application again. The cycle then
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repeats itself. If Leon Gillis did apply again his case is at bottom of the pile, again. Sadly, Leon
Loophole Part 2
The reason why Governor Rick Scott or any Governor can decide whether or not a
convicted felon can regain their voting rights back is because of the 14th amendment. In early
March of 2017 there was a lawsuit brought against the Clemency Board declaring that they were
unconstitutional and were violating the 1st and 14th amendment. Cohen Milstein on behalf of 7
ex-felon stated “Florida’s voting rights restoration procedure is arbitrary in that there are no
laws, rules, or regulations to guide the Executive Clemency Board’s decisions to reinstate or
deny reinstatement of the fundamental right to vote, in violation of the First and
Fourteenth Amendments” (“Hand v. Scott: Class Action to Restore Voting Rights of Former
Criminal Offenders”). Milstein and his clients were seeking to reform the current Clemency
Board because they believed that they had paid their debt to society and believe that ex-felons
deserve to have their voting rights restored. They took their case to the District Court. In early
February, Judge Mark E. Walker ruled that “the process by which Florida’s Clemency Board
arbitrary and violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right of free association and free
Voting Rights of Former Criminal Offenders”). The judge and lawyer took the first step to
standing up to the current system. Judge Walker later declared that the current Board must
change its policy to establish new voting rights reform for ex-felon, sometime late April of 2018
(“Hand v. Scott: Class Action to Restore Voting Rights of Former Criminal Offenders”).
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Following standard process, Governor Scott and his Clemency Board filed an appeal with the
11th Circuit Court of Appeals. On April 25th , hours before Judge Mark Walker’s ruling would
have taken effect, the panel of three judges for the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, “cited
the 1969 decision by the U.S Supreme Court in Beacham vs. Braterman, a Florida case that set
the precedent for a “standardless” clemency system” (Steve Bousquest, “Rick Scott wins round
as appeals court blocks rejection of felons’ voting rights system”) and The Fourteenth
Amendment expressly empowers the state to abridge a convicted felon’s right to vote ( James
Hand, “In the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit”). The Circuit Court ruled
in favor of the Clemency Board. Ruling from a higher court and the 14th amendment gives the
state Governor the right to choose how he or she reforms voting rights in his or her state. The
state has more power over the federal government when it comes to restoring voting rights for all
ex-felon.
The Future
It seems that Florida will be stuck with Disenfranchised Laws and the Clemency Board.
But people are taking a stand. On the 2018 Florida ballot, there is Amendment that can change
that. Amendment 4 will restore voting rights to former felon who served their sentence, but it
will exclude ex-felon who were convicted of murder and sexual assault (“How to Vote on
Florida’s 12 Amendments on the 2018 ballot our recommendations”). It was the only citizen
intuition amendment that made it on the ballot. “More than 799,000 voters whose signatures
were certified on petition by the group Floridians for Fair Democracy to place Amendment 4 on
the ballot” say (“How to Vote on Florida’s 12 Amendments on the 2018 ballot our
recommendations”). If Amendment 4 get the required votes on election day, it will be enacted
onto the Florida’s Constitution. Ex-felons will get there voting rights back and 1.5 million ex-
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felons will be able to vote again. It now up to Floridians, not Governor Rick Scott or his
Clemency Board, to decide whether or not Florida should allow ex-felons to regain their voting
rights back.
Works Cited
Allen, Greg “Felons In Florida Want Their Voting Rights Back Without A Hassle.” Criminal
625671186/felons-in-florida-want-their-voting-rights-back-without-a-hassle
Alvarez, Lizette. “Republican States Push Revisions to Voting Laws.” The New York Times,
“Criminal Disenfranchisement Laws Across the United States” Brennan Center for Justice,12
states.
Deutch Gabby. “Florida Felons Want Their Voting Rights Restored.” The Atlantic, Atlantic
09/florida-felons-want-their-voting-rights-restored/570103/.
“Felony Disenfranchisement: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).” YouTube, uploaded
Hand, James Michael. “On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District
of Florida.” In the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 25 Apr. 2018,
media.ca11.uscourt.gov/opinions/pub/files/201811388.pdf
"Hand v. Scott: Class Action to Restore Voting Rights of Former Criminal Offenders in
study/hand-v-scott-class-action-restore-voting-rights-former-criminal-offenders-florida
“How to Vote on Florida’s 12 Amendments on the 2018 ballot our recommendations” Florida
ballot-amendment-guide/1492149002/
“New Report Track History & Impact of Florida’s Strict Criminal Disenfranchisement Law”
release/new-report-tracks-history-impact-floridas-strict-criminal-disenfranchisement-law.
Robinson, Latisha, et al. “View Leon Gillis's Obituary on News-JournalOnline.com and Share
2016, www.legacy.com/obituaries/news-journalonline/obituary.sapx?page=lifestory&pid
=180346023
Sharockman, Aaron. “Voting Should Be Tough, Lawmaker Says -- Just like in Africa.”
06/voting-should-be-tough-gop-senator-says-africa/.
Steve Bousquet. “Rick Scott wins round as appeals court blocks rejection of felons’ voting rights
politics/buzz/2018/04/25/facing-court-order-on-felons-voting-rights-scott-calls-
emergency-cabinet-meeting/
“Voting Rights Restoration Efforts in Florida” Brennan Center for Justice, 12 February 2018,
www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-rights-restoration-efforts-florida.
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