SCOTUS Deals Blow To Felons In Florida Seeking To Regain Right To Vote
JakeThomas
The Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a federal appeals court decision blocking the eligibility of some felons in Florida to participate in elections, according to The Washington Post.
- The Post described the move as “a major blow to efforts to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million people in the battleground state.”
- Campaign Legal Center lawyers “petitioned the high court in early July after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta temporarily blocked a judge’s order that had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of felons in the state to register to vote,” according to the report.
- But the nation’s highest court denied the request to lift the order on Thursday, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
- Florida voters reenfranchised felons with Amendment 4 in 2018, which "cleared the way for most felons, except those who had been convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses, to register to vote."
- However, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law last year that "appeared to thwart the potential reach of Amendment 4, adding a requirement that fines, fees and restitution be paid first."
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the decision “prevents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participating in Florida’s primary election simply because they are poor.”