Full appeals court to hear felons voting fight

Plaintiffs, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Campaign Legal Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center, had asked the 11th Circuit to turn down the state’s attempt to have the appeal considered by the full court. Hinkle’s order “was compelled by decades of binding U.S. Supreme Court precedent that said you can’t make someone’s ability to vote hinge on how much money they have,” Campaign Legal Center attorney Mark Gaber said. “We’re hopeful at the end of the day that the 11th Circuit will likewise follow the binding Supreme Court precedent, and do so quickly, because it is not good for the voters of Florida to have the status of their rights constantly changing back and forth,” Gaber added. Gaber said it’s “imperative that the court move quickly,” especially now that Hinkle’s ruling has been blocked. The hundreds of thousands of Floridians impacted by the decisions need certainty, he said. “It’s bad enough that they have so little clarity as to what they even owe, which the district court found after a week-long trial. To then have their legal status thrown into question is not good.”

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