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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Blacksonville .COMmunity .NETwork
Partners with Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in
“RESTORE THE VOTE DAY OF ACTION” in Tallahassee
Florida, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia are the
remaining states that still have permanent
disfranchisement for all felony convictions, unless
state government approves individual rights restoration.
Florida has more disfranchised citizens the listed four
states combined.
SIGN UP NOW
Jacksonville, FL, February 20,
2006 - Blacksonville.com and
Florida Rights Restoration
Coalition (FRRC) hosts a Day of Action in
Tallahassee on Tuesday, March 14, 2006. Bus
transportation to the state capital will be provided
free of charge, however, donations will be accepted.
Activities will include a rally, press conference and
lobbying time with legislators.
The event’s purpose is to rally
and lobby support of legislation to restore the right to
vote to hundreds of thousands of people with past felony
convictions. Currently, there are an estimated 800,000
individuals in Florida who remain disfranchised. Of that
800,000 figure, approximately 250,000 are African
Americans (16% of the African American population in
Florida).
”Our research indicates a need to reduce the
consistent pattern of
‘lifetime’ sentencing
guidelines for black males between 20-39 years old (who
account for about a third of all sentenced prison
inmates under state or federal jurisdiction),” say Mr.
Jermyn Shannon EL, Founder and Marketing Executive of
Blacksonville.com. “An average seven to ten years of
prison time for this age group presents overwhelmingly
damage to the families and communities that are directly
affected. We hope the strategic partnership with FRRC
will allow us to empower the grassroots community with
prevention measures necessary to stop the vacuum and a
cushion program for those fortunate enough to fall back
into society, i.e. fair employment and transitional
housing.”
The loss of voting rights is a
human rights issue that confuses generally accepted
notions of punishment for a criminal offense with the
denial of a fundamental right of citizenship. Further,
disfranchisement interferes with the process of
reintegration of ex-offenders into society, impeding
their rehabilitation and further marginalizing their
employment and economic status.
“Voting is a fundamental right of
democracy. When we begin creating degrees of
citizenship, we ultimately sacrifice the true meaning of
democracy,” said Allison Burrell of Blacksonville.com.
“Our communities, our families, everyone is affected
when we deny so many their voice and chance to
participate as productive members in society.”
Your presence in Tallahassee will
be critical in the progress to remove Florida’s voting
ban from the constitution. For additional information
regarding this event including bus reservations, visit
www.blacksonville.com.
About Florida Rights
Restoration Coalition:
FRRC is a non-partisan coalition
of nearly 40 local, state and national organizations
dedicated to bringing an end to Florida’s voting and
civil rights ban against people with past felony
convictions.
About Blacksonville.com:
Blacksonville.com is a
member-driven, multicultural marketing firm that
specializes in interactive campaigns in print, internet,
and traditional media. The firm represents national
non-profit organizations and medium-size businesses
throughout the southeast region.
SIGN UP NOW
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The Florida Rights
Restoration Coalition (FRRC)
is committed to advancing
legislative initiatives that
allow for automatic
restoration of civil and
voting rights for people
with past felony
convictions. Such
legislation would bring
Florida in line with
the vast majority of states
that already enfranchise
people who have fully
completed their sentences.
The FRRC encourages the
Legislature to enact
legislation that:
-
Places before voters a
proposal to
amend the
constitution to allow
for automatic
restoration of voting
and civil rights for
people with past felony
convictions.
-
Establishes the
conditions under which
such individuals may
have their voting and
civil rights restored.
We advocate for
automatic
enfranchisement upon
full completion of
sentence, thereby
eliminating the current
method of rights
restoration which is
increasingly inefficient
and costly.
-
Requires government
agencies to assist
felons in getting their
rights restored.
-
Requires the Secretary
of State to maintain a
statewide voter
registration database
that ensures that names
of people with past
felony convictions who
have had their rights
restored or who had
adjudication withheld
are restored to the
state’s computerized
list of registered
voters by electronic
information-sharing
between corrections
agencies, the FDLE,
clerks of court, and
elections agencies.
-
Requires the Secretary
of State to educate
other government
agencies and the public
about such legislation
once it passes.
There are currently four
rights restoration bills
pending before the
Legislature:
-
S1082 JOINT RESOLUTION
by Sen. Dawson
Proposes a constitutional
amendment authorizing the
Legislature to provide
conditions under which a
convicted felon's right to
register or vote may be
restored by statute, and
removes inoperative
provisions regarding term
limits for members of
Congress.
-
S432 by Sen. Wilson
(Identical to HB 55
sponsored by Rep. Smith)
Requires administrators of
county detention facilities
to
provide an application form
for restoration of civil
rights to prisoners
convicted of a felony and
who are serving their
sentences in that facility;
authorizes the use of
volunteers to assist
prisoners in completing the
application; provides that
this act shall not apply to
prisoners who are
transferred to the
Department of Corrections.
-
S1084 by Sen. Dawson
entitled “Citizen’s
Empowerment Act”
Provides for automatic
restoration of a former
felon's right to vote
following completion and
satisfaction of his or her
sentence of incarceration
and community supervision,
and sets conditions for such
automatic restoration.
-
S2230 by Sen. Wilson
(Rep. Barreiro drafting
an identical bill #
14956)
Provides for
automatic restoration of a
former felon's right to vote
following completion of his
or her sentence of
incarceration and community
supervision;
sets conditions for and
exemptions from automatic
restoration; provides for
education on voting rights
of people with felony
convictions.
The FRRC encourages you to
support a joint resolution
to place language contained
in SB2230 and Rep Barreiro
draft #14596 on the ballot
as a constitutional
amendment for the Nov 2006
election; and to offer an
amendment to include other
civil rights such as the
right to serve on a jury,
hold public office, or
obtain state-issued
occupational licenses, in
addition to the right to
vote.
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