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Florida Law Restricting Felon Voting Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules
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| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia May 24, 2020 07:02pm |
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| Category | Legal Ruling |
| Author | Patricia Mazzei |
| News Date | Monday, May 25, 2020 12:05:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | MIAMI — A Florida law requiring people with serious criminal convictions to pay court fines and fees before they can register to vote is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Sunday, declaring that such a requirement would amount to a poll tax and discriminate against felons who cannot afford to pay.
Florida did not explicitly impose a poll tax, Judge Robert L. Hinkle of the United States District Court in Tallahassee wrote, but by conditioning felons’ voting rights to fees that fund the routine operations of the criminal justice system, it effectively created “a tax by any other name.”
“The Twenty-Fourth Amendment precludes Florida from conditioning voting in federal elections on payment of these fees and costs,” Judge Hinkle wrote, calling the restriction an unconstitutional “pay-to-vote system.”
The judge granted a permanent injunction to civil rights groups that challenged the law as discriminatory for the majority of felons, many of whom are indigent. The state is expected to appeal. |
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