Florida Court: State must help felons restore rights

Posted on Thu, Jul. 15, 2004
Court: State must help felons restore rights
Ruling says agency should provide applications
By Nancy Cook Lauer

The state Department of Corrections must provide felons leaving prison with an application to have their civil rights restored and help them fill it out, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday.

The unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel follows arguments last month by the state agency that sending an electronic list of departing felons to the Florida Parole Commission satisfied state law. The American Civil Liberties Union argued it did not.

"Although an 'E-list' or 'E-application' is deemed the requisite application by the Office of the Governor, the parties agreed during oral arguments that 85 percent of all offenders must also submit (the printed form) to seek restoration of their civil rights," wrote Judge Ricky Polston. "It is undisputed that (the printed form) was not being provided to offenders prior to their discharge. Accordingly, the Department is not complying with the requirement of (the law)."

The state's felons have most recently been in the news because of problems with purge lists that remove them from the voting rolls, an issue first raised following the disputed 2000 presidential election. But in addition to the right to vote, felons also lose their eligibility to be licensed in many professions in the state.

The Department of Corrections has the option of accepting the ruling, asking for a rehearing before the entire 15-member panel or challenging the decision before the Florida Supreme Court.

"Our lawyers are currently reviewing the ruling to determine which course of action may need to be taken," corrections department spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff said. "We feel we have a very streamlined procedure."

The ACLU of Florida, the Florida Justice Institute and Florida Legal Services filed the lawsuit in 2001 on behalf of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators, three Miami-based organizations that work with ex-felons and several individuals with past felony convictions.

Florida is one of only seven states that strip felons of their civil rights following conviction. The felon's loss of rights lasts a lifetime unless the Board of Executive Clemency, which is the governor and Cabinet, restores those rights, usually after an application process that takes a year or more.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge P. Kevin Davey last July found that prison officials did not help 124,769 felons who were released between 1992 and 2001. He instructed the state to take steps to restore the civil rights of nearly 30,000 with past felony convictions. Those inmates would likely qualify for the restoration of rights through an expedited process because their crimes were relatively minor.

Davey also determined the computerized list met the department's legal obligations, which led to the ACLU's appeal.

"Basically, the (appeals) court has ordered the state to do its job," said Brian Dennis, president of Brothers of the Same Mind, one of the plaintiffs. "This is a step in the right direction, and one that has been needed for a long time."