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board rules and warrant at least a five-year wait-
ing period before the formerly incarcerated felon
can even apply to get their rights back. The mere
fact that Law Enforcement and State Prosecutors
favored such a change is an indication that there
is a lack of comprehension of the term “double
jeopardy”.
This camouflaged act of double jeopardy affects
over 100,000 ex-felons. That means that there
are 100,000 votes that will not be casted, at
least 80,000 formerly incarcerated will be added
to the unemployment roll, and the likelihood of
recidivism is eminent. The republican lawmakers
justify their action with the explanation, that peo-
ple who have broken the law need time to prove
themselves. How does deprivation of civil rights
allow someone to prove themselves?
It would appear that if the State Government truly
wants proof that an ex-felon is successfully as-
similating back into society, they would require
that they vote. They would require that employ-
ers not discriminate based on criminal history, so
access to employment would be in place. They
would require that fair housing and healthcare
be extended to people coming out of prison. The
probability of violating is reduced when the for-
merly incarcerated are given access to the basic
civil rights given to all citizens. To deny access to
people who have paid their dues and risk jeopar-
dizing their re-entry success can not be interpret-
ed as anything less than a form of double jeop-
ardy laced with conspiracy. If you deprive a man
of the ability to meet his basic needs legitimately
he resorts by nature to illegitimate options. That’s
a fact. It is contradictory to invest Millions of dol-
Coming in May, 2012 lars into re-entry and then deprive the formerly
incarcerated access to basic human rights and
Inside-Out: A Story of Return, access to resources needed to meet basic hu-
man needs for themselves and their family in
Re-entry, Rejection and Redemption some instances. One would now have to question
if this re-entry platform is just another economic
Only in America and the State of Florida would a devel- plot which dignifies the release and continuously
oped humanitarian society deny access to its citizenry. and strategically denies the access. Non-violent
Republican Governor Rick Scott and the Florida cabinet formerly incarcerated should not have been sen-
have denied access to non-violent felons. They have tenced again by the State of Florida. It’s unfair
chosen to end the automatic restoration of voting and and bordering unconstitutional.
other civil rights to nonviolent felons once their sen-
tences are up. Acting as the sentencing judge, Gover- Proceeds from this book will benefit children
nor Scott and his cabinet voted to change the clemency whose parents are incarcerated.
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