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This is genius. I was wondering how Bloomberg would spend the $100m he committed to Florida. I had never considered reenfranchising ex-felons. Money well spent

This is genius. I was wondering how Bloomberg would spend the $100m he committed to Florida. I had never considered reenfranchising ex-felons. Money well spent. The Politico article is more reality-based. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/09/22/bloomberg-others-rack-up-20m-to-register-florida-felons-after-time-served-1317710 https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/09/22/blo... It's not clear if Bloomberg also paid restitution, money owed to victims, in addition to fines and legal debts. -- One my besties ran our state's version of FL Rights Restitution Coalition. https://floridarrc.com https://floridarrc.com They successfully updated our laws for process to reenfranchise ex-felons, which was widely acknowledged as even worse than Florida (at the time). Even more ridiculous than the fines and legal debts is the bureaucracy. Of the 1,000s of ex-felons who'd squared up every year, less than 20 were able to navigate the red tape to actually restore their right to vote. FWIW, voting rights should never be contingent on fines, debts, restitution. That's flat out unconstitutional, just like poll taxes. Many (most?) states don't even disenfranchise felons. The states that do disenfranchise are whackadoodles.

gridlockd 6y ago
> Money well spent. Imagine being a black person with college or business debt and you see this billionaire rewarding all these felons. I think I'd be voting Trump, out of spite.
- non-entity 6y ago
  Not all people are as immature as you.
  - gridlockd 6y ago
    Not all of them, but 31,001 out of 3 million might be.
  - DenisM 6y ago
    Please refrain from personal attacks. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."
    - deleted 6y ago
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    - deleted 6y ago
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- codyb 6y ago
  Rewarding is a bit of a stretch. My understanding is the people of Florida had an up down referendum on restoring voting rights to felons who’ve served their time a few years back which passed. Then the GOP down there did some maneuvering and introduced this “pay off all debts first” clause which I believe is fairly unpopular down there (although I cannot cite anything for that). Bloomberg is rectifying what many consider to be a wrong down there and reenfranchising (not a word) these 32,000 voters with this gesture. Given the incredible disparities within our criminal justice system I sincerely doubt most Black people are sitting there mad that the right to vote is being restored to these persons, especially since apparently the idea is popular enough that the referendum passed.
- specialist 6y ago
  You oppose debt jubilees? There are many organizations, governments, banks which buy and dissolve debts. Even John Oliver does it.
  - gridlockd 6y ago
    Not necessarily, I'm questioning the efficacy of this particular gesture.
collegecamp293 6y ago
I thought we were against billionaires buying elections?
- specialist 6y ago
  You oppose enfranchising ex-felons who've otherwise fulfilled all their social obligations?

gridlockd 6y ago

> Money well spent. Imagine being a black person with college or business debt and you see this billionaire rewarding all these felons. I think I'd be voting Trump, out of spite.

non-entity 6y ago
Not all people are as immature as you.
- gridlockd 6y ago
  Not all of them, but 31,001 out of 3 million might be.
- DenisM 6y ago
  Please refrain from personal attacks. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."
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codyb 6y ago
Rewarding is a bit of a stretch. My understanding is the people of Florida had an up down referendum on restoring voting rights to felons who’ve served their time a few years back which passed. Then the GOP down there did some maneuvering and introduced this “pay off all debts first” clause which I believe is fairly unpopular down there (although I cannot cite anything for that). Bloomberg is rectifying what many consider to be a wrong down there and reenfranchising (not a word) these 32,000 voters with this gesture. Given the incredible disparities within our criminal justice system I sincerely doubt most Black people are sitting there mad that the right to vote is being restored to these persons, especially since apparently the idea is popular enough that the referendum passed.
specialist 6y ago
You oppose debt jubilees? There are many organizations, governments, banks which buy and dissolve debts. Even John Oliver does it.
- gridlockd 6y ago
  Not necessarily, I'm questioning the efficacy of this particular gesture.

collegecamp293 6y ago

I thought we were against billionaires buying elections?

specialist 6y ago
You oppose enfranchising ex-felons who've otherwise fulfilled all their social obligations?