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by WTVT_Emily from Fox 13, Tampa

Last Post 58 days, 2 hours Ago


Felons get their rights back-- but should they?
Apr 5, 2007 | 8:53 AM
Category: News
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This morning, Florida Governor Charlie Crist and the state clemency board voted to restore most felons voting and other civil rights upon their release from prison.  This means all but the most violent felons will be able to avoid having to go through a hearing process to have such rights reinstated once they've served their time.  Governor Crist strongly supported the rule, but he faced heavy opposition from other lawmakers who said the rule should not change. 

What do you think?  Should felons be allowed to regain their rights once they've done their time?  Or, instead, does the rule welcome criminals back into society a little too easily?  Blog your thoughts here. 




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Member Comments Total Comments: 10
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jamesdean read my blog
Apr 5, 2007 | 9:28 AM

my opinion is that if the state has charged you with a felony crime and you do time in prison, then when your released, you have done your time, why not restore their rights, if not its just more punishment for something youve done your time for,,,,,,,,, so im for it
dvduncan read my blog
Apr 5, 2007 | 10:08 AM

So am I , Last time I checked They still have to pay taxes , so I think it's only fair.
MoonOwl read my blog view my photos
Apr 5, 2007 | 1:16 PM

I agree also.
Vittorio read my blog view my photos
Apr 5, 2007 | 1:45 PM

Sure, for 1st time offenders. Not after that.
PoisonFan read my blog
Apr 5, 2007 | 2:05 PM

This is a great thing. My husband is an ex-felon, he was 15 years old when he was sent to prison, he is now 34. We have done all the stept to have his rights given back to him, and are now waiting for all the paper work to go through. We started this 2 years ago. My husband was not sent to prison for a violent crime, and pay's his taxes, so yeah, why shouldn't he ba able to vote for who is telling him how much money he has to hand over????????
Arky51 read my blog view my photos
Apr 5, 2007 | 4:26 PM

Welcome out of Good Ol' Boy Totalitarianism, Flordida!

Hoping you get rid of some more of your Jack-Boot Law Enforcement Tactics as well.

I used to live in a College Town, and as I did business with students, I would hear more and more of them say, "Sure, go to Floida for a Vacation; you leave on Probation; and every time you turn around, they brin you back on a Technical Violation.

And, do you remember Harry Lee Coe? Yeh, they called him a hanging Judge. Then, when he got caught, involved making illegal bets and deep in debt, he passed the same kind of sentence on himself that he had passed on so many who had stood before him.

If one has done his time and paid his fines, that should be the end of the sentence. Give a man a chance to make good from the lesson, rather than hobbling him with more stigma.

Allow him to regains his dignity if he will. If he doesn't, treat him a little more harshly.
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elrancho
Apr 6, 2007 | 8:18 AM

I agree in general with some of the other posts here - anyone deserves a chance to get it right. If an individual chooses to ignore that second (or third) chance then it be comes a case of burn me once......
Hawkeye read my blog
Apr 6, 2007 | 1:13 PM

I don't know much about the details BUT on the morning newscast this morning they said that this does NOT involve Violent OR Habitual Criminals..SO,,,I don't see a problem with it ...
strawberrygirl read my blog
Apr 6, 2007 | 3:44 PM

I'm with Hawk. If it doesn't include violent or habitual offenders, I don't think there's anything wrong with it either.
Arky51 read my blog view my photos
Apr 7, 2007 | 9:57 PM

And, on top of all other discussion, only the Devil advocates condemnation with no chance of redemption.

Following that, I would say that those who would say, "don't give them a chance" are serving the Devil just as surely as the Ex-Con was when he commited his/her crime.

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WTVT_Emily

I'm the morning web producer at FOX 13. I'm a 2006 USF grad (go Bulls!), and my TV career started as a producer in our sports department. Now, I'm proud to be part of the team that brings you MyFoxTampaBay.com.

Member Since: 6/30/2006


 

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