Federal Appeals Court Affirms Wealth-Based Barriers to Voting
ATLANTA 鈥� A federal appeals court today upheld a Florida law that created wealth-based hurdles to voting. The decision denies voting rights to hundreds of thousands of people with past felony convictions.
The case, Jones v. DeSantis, concerned Senate Bill 7066 (SB7066), which was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019. This law made voting rights for hundreds of thousands of people with past felony convictions contingent on payment of all legal financial obligations. It directly undermined Florida voters' overwhelming passage of the Voting Restoration Amendment 4 in 2018, which had restored voting rights to over a million people with past felony convictions.
The 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of Florida, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund sued immediately after the governor signed the legislation. In May 2020, a district court struck down the law as unconstitutional, but the ruling was put on hold pending an appeal by the governor.
The appeal was heard by the full Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Today鈥檚 decision blocks hundreds of thousands of Floridians from registering to vote in time for the November election.
The following comments are from:
Julie Ebenstein, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Voting Rights Project: 鈥淭his ruling runs counter to the foundational principle that Americans do not have to pay to vote. The gravity of this decision cannot be overstated. It is an affront to the spirit of democracy.鈥�
Daniel Tilley, 老澳门开奖结果 of Florida legal director: 鈥淒espite today鈥檚 ruling, the fight is not over. Creating roadblocks to voting based on wealth is unconstitutional, wrong, and appalling to anyone who cares about democracy. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers have worked constantly to obstruct the restorative justice sought and approved by Floridians through Amendment 4. They have tried to overturn the will of voters and to affix a price tag on the right to vote. While today鈥檚 court ruling has, temporarily, permitted that behavior by Gov. DeSantis, there are many voters who meet even the extreme requirements of this unconstitutional law. Working with our partners, we will continue to inform those voters of their eligibility so that as many returning citizens as possible are able to participate in our democracy.鈥�
Sean Morales-Doyle, deputy director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law: 鈥淭his ruling is a historic mistake and a defeat for voting rights. It tells the state of Florida that it鈥檚 legitimate to put a price tag on voting. Worse, the court says it鈥檚 okay to do so even when Black Floridians owe more than their white counterparts, and even when many can鈥檛 even determine how much they owe and to whom. By rejecting the district court鈥檚 ruling and upholding this law, the court has scored a win for voter suppression and blocked the way for hundreds of thousands of Floridians with past convictions to exercise their fundamental right to vote, in November and beyond.鈥�
Leah C. Aden, deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling is outrageous, and directly contrary to overwhelming public desire to restore returning citizens鈥� voting rights in Florida and a trial court鈥檚 and prior appellate court's well-reasoned findings. It also is not lost on us that erecting a monetary barrier to the ballot box significantly and disproportionately harms Black returning citizens in Florida. This decision sanctions Florida鈥檚 ability to require a long-prohibited poll tax to vote and prolongs confusion for people who may owe monetary amounts that are unknown or difficult to determine, even by Florida. Undoubtedly, we will keep fighting to realize the promise of Amendment 4.鈥�
