Judge strikes down Florida's system for denying felons' voting rights

[SummerMadness]

You're claiming felons should lose the right to vote because they will favor one political party over the other?

Which is a completely asinine argument; fear of who someone might vote for is not a reason to bar someone from voting.

That's why they spend so much time targeting African Americans with punitive laws to keep them away from the ballot box. Additionally, they attempt to make voter ID laws while making it harder to obtain getting that ID (e.g., closing locations or limiting hours of ID centers) or limiting methods of voting most used by African Americans (NC comes to mind in their targeting). They think that we don't remember history and how there has always been a concerted effort to prevent black people from voting, it's just that now they're full into coded language (and quick to drop the hot potato when one of their own slips up).

 

[Sistrin]

You're claiming felons should lose the right to vote because they will favor one political party over the other?

I am saying felons should lose their right to vote because they are felons, and that liberals only want to grant them the right to vote because liberals know convicted felons will favor Democrat party candidates. Starting just with Teddy Kennedy, the two have much in common.

 

[Belk]

I am saying felons should lose their right to vote because they are felons,

That is a very poor argument. Simply because someone broke the law once should not invalidate their voice.

and that liberals only want to grant them the right to vote because liberals know convicted felons will favor Democrat party candidates. Starting just with Teddy Kennedy, the two have much in common.

No offense Sistrin but I do not find you a credible source for the reasoning of liberals. You demonize those who think differently then you rather then allow that they might have valid reasoning for their ideas.

 

[Sistrin]

Here is true racism on display for all to see:

Additionally, they attempt to make voter ID laws while making it harder to obtain getting that ID (e.g., closing locations or limiting hours of ID centers) or limiting methods of voting most used by African Americans...

Because according to the mantra of the left, African Americans are inherently incapable of functioning in even the most rudimentary of settings and conditions without the benevolent help of their liberal/Democrat taskmasters. Liberals truly believe this nonsense, that African-Americans lack the capacity to accomplish the simple task of acquiring an ID without their help.

And you have the gall to call someone else racist.

 

[Sistrin]

That is a very poor argument. Simply because someone broke the law once should not invalidate their voice.

There is a difference between someone breaking the law and someone being a convicted felon.

No offense Sistrin but I do not find you a credible source for the reasoning of liberals. You demonize those who think differently then you rather then allow that they might have valid reasoning for their ideas.

Some behavior requires demonizing. Ted Kennedy left a young woman to drown in his car and did nothing but attempt to cover it up for hours. That is depraved indifference, yet the liberal/Democrat base held Kennedy in the greatest esteem until his dying day. Bill Clinton was a serial sexual predator, yet that same base held and continues to hold him in the highest esteem.

The American left has a well documented, well established pattern woven through history for all to see, and it isn't pretty. The very voter suppression laws Summer Madness is wailing about were all proud Democrat enacted policies.

 

[Belk]

There is a difference between someone breaking the law and someone being a convicted felon.

OK. So what is the reason a convicted felon should no longer be allowed to vote? So far the only reasoning you have given is that they are felons.

Some behavior requires demonizing. Ted Kennedy left a young woman to drown in his car and did nothing but attempt to cover it up for hours. That is depraved indifference, yet the liberal/Democrat base held Kennedy in the greatest esteem until his dying day. Bill Clinton was a serial sexual predator, yet that same base held and continues to hold him in the highest esteem.

The American left has a well documented, well established pattern woven through history for all to see, and it isn't pretty. The very voter suppression laws Summer Madness is wailing about were all proud Democrat enacted policies.

QED

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I am saying felons should lose their right to vote because they are felons

What exactly is the fear pertaining to letting a felon vote?

There are certain rights removed from felons (like gun ownership rights) that make perfect sense due to the potential impacts/risks to other citizens...however, I fail to see how a felon (after serving their time) going into a voting booth is violating anyone else's right or posing any risk.

The American left has a well documented, well established pattern woven through history for all to see, and it isn't pretty. The very voter suppression laws Summer Madness is wailing about were all proud Democrat enacted policies.

...until the Southern Strategy when the GOP courted a lot of the those former segregationists and welcomed them into their party in order to gain some much needed southern votes.

People who love to make the "Democrats are actually the party of racism" claim, pretend as if nothing has changed in 75 years.

 

[Sistrin]

...until the Southern Strategy...

You mean the myth of the Southern Strategy.

 

[iluvatar5150]

There is a difference between someone breaking the law and someone being a convicted felon
.

You're right, there is a difference. Rick Scott, for example, the Republican governor of Florida who enacted the policy that was struck down, made a ton of money while his company committed fraud. He wasn't convicted; just his company was.

 

[iluvatar5150]

You mean the myth of the Southern Strategy.

You mean the myth that the Republican party says was real?

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/rnc-chair-michael-steele-confesses-to-race-based-southern-strategy/

 

[ThatRobGuy]

You mean the myth of the Southern Strategy.

Calling something a myth doesn't make it a myth...

Per my link, the phrase was actually popularized by one of Nixon's own campaign managers that outlined their precise strategy for aquiring the votes of "Negrophobe Southern Whites" to fill in the gaps for the states in the northeast and west they were losing to the democrats.

These are the words, directly from the mouth of Nixon's political strategist who implemented the plan:

From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don't need any more than that... but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats.[1]


Did you think that guys like Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott, and co. simply switched parties because they thought it would be something fun to try?

Party switching in the United States - Wikipedia

Review the list of people who switched from the Democrat to Republican party between 1963-1973. Look at their stances and voting record on segregation, and civil rights in general. ...and then ask yourself, if the purpose wasn't to pander to racist southern whites in order to pick up some quick and and easy votes, why in the heck would anyone go out of their way to recruit guys like that and bring them into the fold?

You and I have been through this numerous times...each time you say the Southern Strategy was a myth. The facts, documented party switching history, and the GOP strategist, himself, who implemented it, all suggest otherwise.

Really read this line, and really consider exactly what it is the GOP strategist Kevin Phillips was saying: Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are.

"Negrophobes, that's where the votes are". Sounds to me like they were precisely banking on pandering to, and acquiring the votes of racists...because in his own words "that's where the votes are".

Even if you want to call the Southern Strategy a myth, you'd still have to explain why it is that nearly all modern day republicans seem to have a hard time grasping why the black community votes democrat, and dismisses it as if they're just gullible children who got tricked into voting (D), and then trot out the "Democrats are actually the racist party" nonsense. Democrats made a consistent effort to distance themselves from that in the 1960's...where as the republicans strategists decided to go with the mentality of, and I quote, "Negrophobes, that's where the votes are"

"Negrophobe whites" (largely concentrated in the South)
"That's where the votes are" (referencing a strategy)

 

[JCFantasy23]

I agree with the judge on this. I never understood why voter rights are completely revoked if the person has served their time and are now supposed to be considered a free citizen. I know of a person who was a registered felon because of vehicle/license issues they kept being stubborn about, no other offense, so it is not all down to the most violent and vicious of society like they used to be regarded. If you're considered a free person who has served their time, by saying you cannot vote are they claiming you won't be accepted as a full American citizen anymore? Ridiculous.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Florida had another, related law blocked:
Federal Court Tosses Florida’s Poll Tax; Formerly Incarcerated People Can Vote in 2020

 

[LostMarbels]

How many would be ok with making convicted felons tax exempt? Seeing that the government/state imposes taxes on them but fails to provide them with a political voice through elected representatives. Felons have no voice over their taxation. They literally have no voice at all and face constant almost daily double jeopardy for incidents decades old that meet even more restrictive new legislations.

At what point do you think an individual is actualy sentenced to life, even tho they are not in prison?

 

[stevil]

One hopes. I agree losing voting privileges should be part of the prison sentence, but I see no good reason to ban felons once released.

Why should people in prison not be allowed to vote?
What if they get out of prison the day after the election?
Or a month after?
What if their family are not in prison, can't they vote based on what they think is best for their family?

All citizens (of age) should have the right to vote.

 

[SummerMadness]

How many would be ok with making convicted felons tax exempt? Seeing that the government/state imposes taxes on them but fails to provide them with a political voice through elected representatives. Felons have no voice over their taxation. They literally have no voice at all and face constant almost daily double jeopardy for incidents decades old that meet even more restrictive new legislations.

At what point do you think an individual is actualy sentenced to life, even tho they are not in prison?

You are correct, we as a society need to start doing more to reintegrating those convicted of felonies back in our society. But it is not just voting where this is important, we must also considering issues like employment and housing because I am sure most people believe that you should be able to live somewhere and get employment to support yourself. Right now, our society tends to push this population to the margins of society, which makes recidivism that much more likely.

 

[LostMarbels]

Right now, our society tends to push this population to the margins of society, which makes recidivism that much more likely.

I would disagree only on the statement that they are considered part of any society to even be on the fringe of. Most people are absolutely ok with making sure said individuals never get any rights, and even have harsher regulatory legislation imposed on them once they get out of prison. Someone can't find work, get housing, or get up off the streets? Who cares? They chose that life. Been told that more than I care to remember.