Hundreds of thousands of Floridians with felony convictions just lost their right to vote.
It's been almost two years since Floridians voted to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions who'd been released from prison and weren't convicted of murder or sexual assault. But those newly enfranchised voters prepared to go to the polls in November, a federal circuit court ruled they'll only be able to vote if they'd paid off all fees and fines associated with their conviction.
After Florida voters approved the amendment to the state constitution allowing former felons to vote, Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pushed through a law mandating they first pay restitution, fees, and fines first. Opponents argued the payments violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, as well as the 24th Amendment's bar on implementing poll taxes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the 11th Circuit court ruled 6-4 Friday that fees and fines are part of a felony sentence, and must be paid to vote. The state also doesn't have to tell people how much money they need to pay to vote, the court ruled.
Court battles over the felony voter law have gone on since its passage. A judge first said the "pay-to-vote" requirement was illegal, but both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. Around 1 million Floridians have former felony convictions, but hundreds of thousands are estimated to still have exorbitant fees left to pay off.
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
