Florida implements a poll tax targeted at minorities

[Leeea]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/16/florida-voting-pay-fees-court-fines-felony-convictions-not-right/

enying an important right of citizenship is exactly what the Republican-controlled legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had in mind when they thwarted the will of Florida voters and imposed what amounts to a poll tax that disenfranchises mainly poor and minority people

In 2018, a supermajority of Florida voters — nearly two-thirds — approved a constitutional amendment that lifted the state’s lifetime ban on voting for most people with past felony convictions.

within a year, lawmakers eviscerated the reform with a law mandating that a criminal sentence was completed only after all fines and fees connected to the conviction have been paid.

A further indignity of the law is that there is no system or record-keeping that allows people to reliably know what they owe. Ms. Bolden first received a letter telling her she owed a few hundred dollars, but the website of the courthouse listed her debt at nearly $53,000. “I have no idea what I have to pay. I just know every time I reach out, it’s a different number, and it’s increasing,” said Marq Mitchel. When Daniel Bullins went to the courthouse to pay down his $1,827.23 debt, he learned it had been sold off to a private collection agency that tacked on 25 percent interest. “How are you going to sell somebody’s agony to a company and compound it?”

If your asking why this targets minorities, I remind you of the unfair unjust nature of our "legal" system that arrests and convicts minorities at much high rates then whites for the same crimes.

Leea's personal note:
It is the clever games that republicans play that reveal the fundamental truth about them. They are evil scum doing everything they can to harm the maximum number people based on a racist worldview.

 

[UNCjigga]

Correct me if I’m wrong—but if the “debt was sold off” to a collection agency, why would these ex-felons still owe anything to the state in order to regain their voting rights? Wouldn’t they just be on the hook to private creditors?

 

[Amol S.]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/16/florida-voting-pay-fees-court-fines-felony-convictions-not-right/

If your asking why this targets minorities, I remind you of the unfair unjust nature of our "legal" system that arrests and convicts minorities at much high rates then whites for the same crimes.

Leea's personal note:
It is the clever games that republicans play that reveal the fundamental truth about them. They are evil scum doing everything they can to harm the maximum number people based on a racist worldview.

Correct me if I’m wrong—but if the “debt was sold off” to a collection agency, why would these ex-felons still owe anything to the state in order to regain their voting rights? Wouldn’t they just be on the hook to private creditors?

A victim of this debt should just either contact the IRS, FDIC, or the FBI and make a claim that the State of Florida is doing a grand financial fraud against them. It is illegal to not give any invoice for the amount of money due. It is further illegal to give false information about the amount needed to be paid. The victim has the right to sue the state of Florida for any excess amount difference due to collection agency charges.

 

[HomerJS]

Who knew yet another policy by the Republican Party goes opposite the will of the people.

 

[BUTCH1]

A victim of this debt should just either contact the IRS, FDIC, or the FBI and make a claim that the State of Florida is doing a grand financial fraud against them. It is illegal to not give any invoice for the amount of money due. It is further illegal to give false information about the amount needed to be paid. The victim has the right to sue the state of Florida for any excess amount difference due to collection agency charges.

This needs a FL supreme court ruling ASAP

 

[Sunburn74]

This needs a FL supreme court ruling ASAP

I thought they ruled it was ok.

Is the SCOTUS reviewing the case?

 

[theeedude]

I thought they ruled it was ok.

Is the SCOTUS reviewing the case?

This Supreme Court is going to destroy democracy, then plead for civility when it backfires on them.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

We’ve done this thread many times now. its the GOP. They are shitty people.