Parole Commission
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 | BUDGET
A group of black lawmakers, including Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee,
successfully lobbied the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday
to provide help to reduce an estimated backlog of 45,000 convicted
felons petitioning to have their civil rights restored. The budget
amendment provides $2.5 million and 29 staff positions to the state
Parole Commission. Some petitioners are waiting an average of 2½
years for the parole board to restore their right to vote and hold
public office. The...
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| Is
clemency process unfair to blacks?
Officials say race isn't a factor, but requests by blacks are
disproportionately denied.-- During the past five years, Florida
restored the civil rights of more than 8,400 people who would
otherwise never again vote, serve as jurors or hold certain jobs
because of their criminal records. Only 25 percent of them are black.
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| Rules
became harsher with anti-crime trend
By Gary Kane, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Florida wasn't always so tough on lawbreakers and their voting rights.
In 1975, the state automatically restored the voting rights of people
convicted of felonies...
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| Critics
of law point to roots in racism
By Scott Hiaasen and Gary Kane, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
It's not surprising that laws stripping the voting rights from people
convicted of certain crimes have a huge impact on black voters. In
some states, that's exactly what they were originally designed to
do...
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| Re: the cuts to the department in 2001
Here's how it works. Cut back on money, and something's got to give.
It sometimes starts like this:
An email from the computer HELP DESK came out today - "the
current budget cutbacks will definitely affect the support level from
the HELP DESK area."
Several positions that have been vacated will not be replaced, and existent
vacant positions will stay vacant. Less staff and more work
equals poor service. The memo said staff should expect to wait up to
48 hours before computers can be fixed.
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