These well written pieces pieces are filled with new information about what happened in Florida in 2000. Suffice it to say it was worse than we thought; far worse.
And, they are timely in light of the "proposed agreement between the Florida Department of Corrections and assorted groups may help to change some of that. The deal would make the state restore the rights of 30,000 ex-felons to settle a lawsuit filed after the disputed 2000 election by the American Civil Liberties Union, African-American legislators and advocacy groups. The terms arise from the failure of the state to follow its own archaic law requiring that former prisoners receive assistance with paperwork to regain their rights."
"Besides ignoring the law, the state also ignored the petitions of thousands who applied for restoration. The backlog of requests in Tallahassee is about 30,000, with only a half-dozen state processors assigned to go through it. About 95 percent of the felons who seek to regain their rights are denied, and many must wait years to receive their rejection. Gov. Bush, who has touted his record for streamlining bureaucracy, has been indifferent to the mess in his Executive Office of Clemency and disregarded repeated appeals to reduce the backlog." See "Restore rights for 30,000, and move on from there".
Christian Coalition Split- "The Christian Coalition of Florida and its Miami-Dade chapter have abruptly severed ties, with each promising to have its own local group with its own agendas. The state organization said Tuesday that it had disbanded the Miami-Dade chapter, its largest, and removed Anthony Verdugo as its chairman. . . . Verdugo and the Miami-Dade chapter were instrumental in the effort last year to repeal the county's gay-rights ordinance. The repeal failed when 53 percent of voters chose to keep the ordinance. Verdugo, 41, was charged in August with falsely swearing that he had witnessed someone sign a petition in favor of the repeal referendum. The charges were dropped after Verdugo completed a 'pretrial intervention' program for defendants without criminal pasts. He was at the helm of the local chapter for nearly seven years." See "Christian Coalition of Florida splits with its Dade chapter".
Coming Home To Roost - "Blaming the Florida Legislature for years of inadequate funding, a reluctant Volusia County School Board unanimously agreed to $9.1 million worth of spending cuts Tuesday as it approved a tentative budget and tax rate for the coming year." See "Schools pass 'dreadful' plan".
Miami Herald Editorials Worth Reading - The Miami Herald editorial board rarely writes anything of interest concerning Florida's political scene. Today they've outdone themselves, with two (2) editorials:
- "Affordable, quality university education is becoming more elusive in Florida. If the presidents of the state's 11 universities decide on Aug. 15 to initiate enrollment caps next fall, thousands of students will pay the consequences. We hope that the presidents look for other alternatives to caps and, if none exist, limit the number of students for whom university doors will close." See "No To Enrollment Caps".
- "Florida continues to punish ex-felons long after they have finished their prison terms. They are stripped of civil rights -- for life. Ex-felons cannot vote, serve on a jury or practice certain professions. The law that makes this possible is discriminatory and wrong. It's an abuse of the state's authority and should be stricken from the books." See "Ex-Felons: The Debt Is Paid". This ties in nicely with the Palast piece cited above: "Disappeared Voters: The Unreported Story of How They Fixed the Vote in Florida".
Building Those Relationships For 2008 - "Florida Governor Jeb Bush helped raise about 200-thousand dollars Tuesday night at a party to benefit the campaign of [Kentucky] Republican gubernatorial nominee Ernie Fletcher." See "Jeb Bush Stumps For Ernie Fletcher".
Shucks - "Republican Congresswoman Katherine Harris disavowed any interest in the 2004 U.S. Senate race Tuesday, likening her chances of getting in to the odds of a rare astrological phenomenon. 'It would take a syzygy for me to run,' said Harris, helping out reporters by explaining that a syzygy is when three bodies in the solar system align along a straight line." See "Harris: Senate run `not on radar'". Syzgy?