TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A federal judge granted class-action status for Florida felons seeking to get their voting rights restored but aren't able to fulfill a requirement that they first pay all of their court fees and fines.
- US district court judge grants class-action status to felons in lawsuit
- Trial verdict will apply to hundreds of thousands of felons, not just 17
- RELATED: Court: Florida Can't Bar Ex-Felons From Voting If They Can't Afford Fees
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle was filed Tuesday in the Northern District of Florida in the case of Jones et al. vs. DeSantis et al. and greatly expands the scope of the ongoing dispute between felons and the state.
The case stems from a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a statute tacked on to Amendment 4, which was passed by Florida voters in November 2018 and restores voting rights for nonviolent convicted felons who have completed their sentences. In implementing the amendment months later, the Republican-led Florida legislature passed SB 7066, which defines the completion of a sentence as having paid all fines, fees, and restitution, or "legal financial obligations."
A group of 17 felons then filed suit, saying they are indigent and genuinely unable to pay all of their fines and fees, and that's preventing them from voting.
Hinkle's ruling Tuesday means that the verdict in that lawsuit won't just apply to those 17 felons but all felons who would be eligible to vote if not for their unpaid financial obligations. That could be 430,000 people, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Desmond Meade, an Orlando felon-voting-rights advocate and prominent backer of Amendment 4, praised the ruling.
The trial is set to begin April 27.
