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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
July 22, 2020
Ron Wyden tells Trump to attack the virus as hard as he is attacking Portland
Posted on Wed, Jul 22nd, 2020 by Jason Easley
Sen. Ron Wyden Tells Trump To Attack The Virus As Hard As He Is Attacking Portland
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that he wished that Trump was attacking the coronavirus half as hard as he is attacking the city of Portland.
Wyden said on MSNBC’s Meet The Press Daily, “No, the vast bulk of people on the streets are peaceful protesters. We know there’s always a subset interested in violence. You heard me this morning making it clear, I don’t take a backseat to anybody in terms of fighting violence. What Chad Wolf and Donald Trump has done is basically inflame this situation. They have escalated it with these paramilitary squads. I will tell you, I wish Donald Trump would attack the coronavirus half as hard as he’s attacking our city.”
https://twitter.com/i/status/1286054434699714562
Sen. Wyden was correct. Trump is attacking American cities, and he announced that he is sending hundreds of federal officers into Chicago. Trump is attacking American cities to take attention away from the “war” against the virus that he has already surrendered on.
The virus has won, which is why Trump has come with a new imaginary war, as he is trampling the constitution and the rights of every American with his attacks on American cities.
Ron Wyden tells Trump to attack the virus as hard as he is attacking Portland
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/07/22/ron-wyden-trump-portland.htmlRon Wyden tells Trump to attack the virus as hard as he is attacking Portland
Posted on Wed, Jul 22nd, 2020 by Jason Easley
Sen. Ron Wyden Tells Trump To Attack The Virus As Hard As He Is Attacking Portland
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that he wished that Trump was attacking the coronavirus half as hard as he is attacking the city of Portland.
Wyden said on MSNBC’s Meet The Press Daily, “No, the vast bulk of people on the streets are peaceful protesters. We know there’s always a subset interested in violence. You heard me this morning making it clear, I don’t take a backseat to anybody in terms of fighting violence. What Chad Wolf and Donald Trump has done is basically inflame this situation. They have escalated it with these paramilitary squads. I will tell you, I wish Donald Trump would attack the coronavirus half as hard as he’s attacking our city.”
https://twitter.com/i/status/1286054434699714562
Sen. Wyden was correct. Trump is attacking American cities, and he announced that he is sending hundreds of federal officers into Chicago. Trump is attacking American cities to take attention away from the “war” against the virus that he has already surrendered on.
The virus has won, which is why Trump has come with a new imaginary war, as he is trampling the constitution and the rights of every American with his attacks on American cities.
July 22, 2020
The Rude Pundit: Trump Assures That We Stay Angry with a Parade of Horribles
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
7/22/2020
Trump Assures That We Stay Angry with a Parade of Horribles
One thing that is remarkable about the remarkably bad presidency of Donald Trump, who is really just a sack of yams with a deranged parrot on top of it, is that every single time the mongrels of the media start to say that he's "pivoting" or taking "a new tone," he undercuts that by doing more scandal. It's either an offhand remark or tweet, like telling accused child sex trafficker and rapist Ghislaine Maxwell that "I wish her well," or the revelation of some other scandal, like the fact that Trump asked redundantly-named Woody Johnson, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, to convince the British government to move the British Open golf tournament to Trump's failing golf resort in Scotland.
There's always a danger that we simply get used to one form of fuckery, like Trump's constant violation of the emoluments clause in the Constitution, and it fades into the deafening background drone of crime and offense that marks this presidency and this administration and this party. You don't want to become complacent, but as long as Republicans are willing to cover up for Trump, many Americans have a "well, what are you gonna do?" attitude. Ah, well, we'll fix it in the election, we think, hilariously, since there's no guarantee we'll make it to the election or that the election won't be fixed in Trump's favor or that Trump would leave office if he lost. Our adorably naive belief and hope that the mechanisms of democracy will function as they're supposed to in 2020 might not be enough.
But there's no fucking break here. Sure, sure, we keep saying, "This isn't normal," but systems have a way of adapting. Some of us think about the migrant kids who are still being separated from their parents or the mistreatment of the kids who are on their own, but most of the country has absorbed that horror as either forgotten or solved or "well, what are you gonna do?" We moved on from something so abjectly, objectively terrible, the very policy that Trump should have been impeached over, and that truly says something sad about all of us.
Fortunately, Trump is a bounty of crime and unethical behavior. Today, as I'm writing this, that piece of shit president and his evil walrus attorney general are announcing that they will be sending an alphabet soup of hundreds of federal law enforcement officers (or, you know, stormtroopers) to Chicago, since the ongoing dress rehearsal in Portland went so well, and that other cities will follow. Trump said, militaristically, "Today I’m announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime." Of course, Trump spoke about this in the rapiest way possible, saying that the cities "need it badly" and "should want it." Of course, they don't want it, as governors and mayors have made crystal-fuckin'-clear, but der Trumpen-fuhrer will not be deterred from securing the fatherland (as in "I bet my father would love me if he saw how I'm treating this land" ). And, hey, it's probably unconstitutional for him to be doing this specifically for policing purposes, as Walrus Barr said it would be, so throw another impeachment log on the dead fire.
more...
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/07/trump-assures-that-we-stay-angry-with.html
July 22, 2020
Does he say shit just to hear himself talk? Has he criticized mf45 at all?
TheHill.com
Rand Paul calls for Cuomo to be impeached over coronavirus response
By Kaelan Deese - 07/22/20 05:18 PM EDT
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called Wednesday for the impeachment of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over his handling of the state's coronavirus outbreak, saying, "the people we are lauding are actually making catastrophic decisions."
"I think Governor Cuomo should be impeached ... for the disastrous decision he made to send patients with coronavirus back to nursing homes ... virtually half his people who died were in nursing homes," Paul said on Fox News's "Rundown" morning podcast.
Earlier in the show, Paul called into question the pandemic lockdown imposed in New York in March, referencing the surge of cases across the state despite the shelter-in-place orders.
snip//
"Under age 45, this disease we're looking at is less dangerous than the seasonal flu. Above age 45, it's more dangerous than the seasonal flu," he said.
Paul, who became the first senator to contract the novel coronavirus back in March, has been vocal about the U.S. pandemic response, repeatedly saying that a small subset of health experts should not be making the rules on their own.
The Republican senator publicly questioned leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, saying in June that the epidemiologist advising the nation's response to COVID-19 should provide "more optimism" about America's approach.
Rand Paul calls for Cuomo to be impeached over coronavirus response
Does he say shit just to hear himself talk? Has he criticized mf45 at all?
TheHill.com
Rand Paul calls for Cuomo to be impeached over coronavirus response
By Kaelan Deese - 07/22/20 05:18 PM EDT
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called Wednesday for the impeachment of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over his handling of the state's coronavirus outbreak, saying, "the people we are lauding are actually making catastrophic decisions."
"I think Governor Cuomo should be impeached ... for the disastrous decision he made to send patients with coronavirus back to nursing homes ... virtually half his people who died were in nursing homes," Paul said on Fox News's "Rundown" morning podcast.
Earlier in the show, Paul called into question the pandemic lockdown imposed in New York in March, referencing the surge of cases across the state despite the shelter-in-place orders.
snip//
"Under age 45, this disease we're looking at is less dangerous than the seasonal flu. Above age 45, it's more dangerous than the seasonal flu," he said.
Paul, who became the first senator to contract the novel coronavirus back in March, has been vocal about the U.S. pandemic response, repeatedly saying that a small subset of health experts should not be making the rules on their own.
The Republican senator publicly questioned leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, saying in June that the epidemiologist advising the nation's response to COVID-19 should provide "more optimism" about America's approach.
July 22, 2020
Posted on Wed, Jul 22nd, 2020 by Darragh Roche
NPR Business Journalist: Ivanka Trump’s Jobs Plan Is Stupid, Wrong and Lazy
NPR business journalist Adam Davidson has slammed Ivanka Trump’s jobs plan for America. He says the plan is filled with bad ideas and misconceptions about work.
Davidson is a contributor to NPR’S Planet Money and has a newsletter that usually covers business rather than politics. But he took a hatchet to the “Find Something New” plan on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump’s daughter has been the face of the initiative, which essentially tells people to go find a job. Davidson explained why that tactic won’t work and why the plan was perpetuating falsehoods about employment.
He also took the time to dissect Ivanka Trump’s career and suggest she had no idea about real work.
He goes on to explain why nobody should take career advice from Trump and trashes the initiative’s website.
NPR Business Journalist: Ivanka Trump's Jobs Plan Is Stupid, Wrong and Lazy
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/07/22/npr-business-journalist-ivanka-trumps-jobs-plan-is-stupid-wrong-and-lazy.htmlPosted on Wed, Jul 22nd, 2020 by Darragh Roche
NPR Business Journalist: Ivanka Trump’s Jobs Plan Is Stupid, Wrong and Lazy
NPR business journalist Adam Davidson has slammed Ivanka Trump’s jobs plan for America. He says the plan is filled with bad ideas and misconceptions about work.
Davidson is a contributor to NPR’S Planet Money and has a newsletter that usually covers business rather than politics. But he took a hatchet to the “Find Something New” plan on Wednesday.
“Ivanka Trump’s jobs plan is not only stupid and wrong, it’s lazy,” Davidson wrote.
“Find Something New embodies every wrong and dumb idea about how jobs work.”
“Find Something New embodies every wrong and dumb idea about how jobs work.”
President Donald Trump’s daughter has been the face of the initiative, which essentially tells people to go find a job. Davidson explained why that tactic won’t work and why the plan was perpetuating falsehoods about employment.
He also took the time to dissect Ivanka Trump’s career and suggest she had no idea about real work.
“Her first big real estate job was with a money-launderer,” Davidson charges.
“Another major project she oversaw involved a likely money-laundering scheme for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
“She also ran a jewelry business with a fraudster. She barely avoided getting arrested for a different real estate scheme in New York.”
“And there are many, many, many other sketchy deals she’s participated in over the years.”
“Another major project she oversaw involved a likely money-laundering scheme for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
“She also ran a jewelry business with a fraudster. She barely avoided getting arrested for a different real estate scheme in New York.”
“And there are many, many, many other sketchy deals she’s participated in over the years.”
He goes on to explain why nobody should take career advice from Trump and trashes the initiative’s website.
“For all its laziness and uselessness, the site is a perfect distillation of a lot of the inherited, poorly thought-through ideas that govern much career advice,” he says.
July 22, 2020
Philadelphia's Top Prosecutor Is Prepared to Arrest Federal Agents
After Trump said he would send agents to more cities, Philly’s district attorney lays out how he might criminally charge federal officers.
By Brentin Mock
July 22, 2020, 5:00 AM EDT
“Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office," warned Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.
After numerous reports and lawsuits in Portland regarding un-badged and un-uniformed federal officers arresting, beating, and detaining people in unmarked vehicles, the Trump administration’s response is that they’re going to do it even more, and in more cities. Saying that his federal agents are doing a “fantastic job,” Trump has suggested that he will also deploy agents in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Milwaukee to do the same.
In one of those cities, the city prosecutor has already preemptively warned Trump’s police forces what he will do if they bring the same tactics to Philadelphia:
Trump claims the federal intervention is needed due to excessive violence, particularly around federal statues and monuments. But legal experts have said the reported federal actions in Portland far exceed legal boundaries.
more...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-22/philly-d-a-threatens-to-arrest-federal-agents
Philadelphia's Top Prosecutor Is Prepared to Arrest Federal Agents
Philadelphia's Top Prosecutor Is Prepared to Arrest Federal Agents
After Trump said he would send agents to more cities, Philly’s district attorney lays out how he might criminally charge federal officers.
By Brentin Mock
July 22, 2020, 5:00 AM EDT
“Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office," warned Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.
After numerous reports and lawsuits in Portland regarding un-badged and un-uniformed federal officers arresting, beating, and detaining people in unmarked vehicles, the Trump administration’s response is that they’re going to do it even more, and in more cities. Saying that his federal agents are doing a “fantastic job,” Trump has suggested that he will also deploy agents in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Milwaukee to do the same.
In one of those cities, the city prosecutor has already preemptively warned Trump’s police forces what he will do if they bring the same tactics to Philadelphia:
“My dad volunteered and served in World War II to fight fascism, like most of my uncles, so we would not have an American president brutalizing and kidnapping Americans for exercising their constitutional rights and trying to make America a better place, which is what patriots do,” said Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in a statement. “Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office.”
Trump claims the federal intervention is needed due to excessive violence, particularly around federal statues and monuments. But legal experts have said the reported federal actions in Portland far exceed legal boundaries.
more...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-22/philly-d-a-threatens-to-arrest-federal-agents
July 22, 2020
35 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Biden and Obama to talk Trump in new campaign video
Alexi McCammond
Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama sat down in-person to discuss systemic racism, the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's handling of those issues for a new campaign video that will be released Thursday.
Why it matters: You'll only see more of Obama in the months leading up to the election as he helps sell Biden's pitch to voters that he's better suited than Trump to help the country get past a slew of national crises.
What they're saying: "I don't understand his inability to get a sense of what people are going through," Biden says of Trump in a preview clip. "He can't relate in any way."
What's next: The conversation will go live on Thursday across both Biden's and Obama's social media platforms.
Biden and Obama to talk Trump in new campaign video
https://www.axios.com/biden-obama-conversation-campaign-video-trump-f934c4d7-161c-4d2c-a860-ef40c6a179c7.html35 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Biden and Obama to talk Trump in new campaign video
Alexi McCammond
Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama sat down in-person to discuss systemic racism, the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's handling of those issues for a new campaign video that will be released Thursday.
Why it matters: You'll only see more of Obama in the months leading up to the election as he helps sell Biden's pitch to voters that he's better suited than Trump to help the country get past a slew of national crises.
What they're saying: "I don't understand his inability to get a sense of what people are going through," Biden says of Trump in a preview clip. "He can't relate in any way."
"Well, and one of the things I have always known about you, Joe, it's the reason I wanted you to be my vice president, and the reason why you were so effective ... it all starts with being able to relate," Obama replies.
"If you can connect those struggles to somebody else's struggles, then you're going to work hard for them and that's what's always motivated you to be in public service," the former president adds.
"If you can connect those struggles to somebody else's struggles, then you're going to work hard for them and that's what's always motivated you to be in public service," the former president adds.
What's next: The conversation will go live on Thursday across both Biden's and Obama's social media platforms.
July 22, 2020
SCIENCE!
https://www.thedailybeast.com/german-scientists-stage-concert-to-study-how-coronavirus-spreads-in-crowds?ref=home
German Scientists Stage Concert to Study How Coronavirus Spreads in Crowds
Tom Sykes
Published Jul. 22, 2020 6:49AM ET
German Scientists Stage Concert to Study How Coronavirus Spreads in Crowds
SCIENCE!
https://www.thedailybeast.com/german-scientists-stage-concert-to-study-how-coronavirus-spreads-in-crowds?ref=home
German Scientists Stage Concert to Study How Coronavirus Spreads in Crowds
Tom Sykes
Published Jul. 22, 2020 6:49AM ET
Of the many “first-world problems” associated with the coronavirus, the cessation of live music has been one of the hardest for certain sections of society to bear. So perhaps it is unsurprising that 900 music-loving Germans have already signed up for a concert that will see the Leipzig Arena turned into a giant petri dish. The gig, featuring German singer-songwriter Tim Bendzko, will investigate how coronavirus spreads in crowds. Attendees will wear contact-tracing devices around their necks to track how many people they come into close contact with, and for how long. They’ll also be told to use fluorescent hand sanitizer that is visible under ultraviolet light, allowing researchers to determine which surfaces are touched most often. The event will comprise three different scenarios; in one, the concert will take place exactly as it would have in pre-pandemic times, in another, the crowd will enter through eight entrances instead of the usual two, and every other seat in the arena will be blocked off. The third scenario will involve strict social distancing and limit the audience to 2,000 people. Researchers say there’s a “very low” risk that the participants could become infected.
July 22, 2020
Gaetz Runs Afoul of House Ethics Rules
July 22, 2020 at 6:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Gaetz Runs Afoul of House Ethics Rules
https://politicalwire.com/2020/07/22/gretz-runs-afoul-of-house-ethics-rules/Gaetz Runs Afoul of House Ethics Rules
July 22, 2020 at 6:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) “has privately engaged in several spending practices in his nearly four years in office that appear to be in conflict with the House’s ethics rules,” Politico report.
“Gaetz, a close ally of President Donald Trump from the Florida Panhandle, improperly sent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a limited liability company linked to a speech-writing consultant who was ousted from the Trump administration, in direct conflict with House rules.”
“In another possible violation, a private company installed a television studio in his father’s home in Niceville, Fla., which Gaetz uses when he appears on television.”
“Taxpayers foot the bill to rent the television camera, and the private company that built the studio — which Gaetz refuses to identify — takes a fee each time he appears on air, his office said. It’s unclear how much it cost the private company to construct the studio.”
“Gaetz, a close ally of President Donald Trump from the Florida Panhandle, improperly sent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a limited liability company linked to a speech-writing consultant who was ousted from the Trump administration, in direct conflict with House rules.”
“In another possible violation, a private company installed a television studio in his father’s home in Niceville, Fla., which Gaetz uses when he appears on television.”
“Taxpayers foot the bill to rent the television camera, and the private company that built the studio — which Gaetz refuses to identify — takes a fee each time he appears on air, his office said. It’s unclear how much it cost the private company to construct the studio.”
July 22, 2020
Three brothers are behind a series of viral videos trolling Trump
By Gregory Krieg and Ryan Nobles, CNN
Updated 9:12 PM ET, Tue July 21, 2020
(CNN)A little known Democratic group called MeidasTouch posted a video on Twitter less than two weeks ago that began with Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump's longtime aide, lashing out at presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The former vice president had made "a lot of really creepy statements" in the past, Conway said, "that make me very uncomfortable, certainly as a mother but as a person who breathes air and exercises brain capacity."
But Biden's name is never mentioned, and what follows in the video is a mashup of Trump's own words -- from when he suggested, on "The View," that if "Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her," to his speculating in another old interview about daughter Tiffany's future physical appearance.
By Tuesday afternoon, the so-called "Creepy Trump" video had more than 6.3 million views on Twitter.
From their respective pandemic lockdowns in New York and Los Angeles earlier this year, the three brothers who founded MeidasTouch began to turn over an idea -- and an opportunity. Ben, 35, Brett, 30, and 27-year-old Jordan Meiselas had been captive audiences to Trump's coronavirus press conferences and, feeling frustrated and angry with time on their hands, started a blog. Opinion and aggregation soon turned into the rapid production of political videos.
New York natives, the brothers decided that their experiences across different professions -- Ben is a lawyer; Brett a video editor; and Jordan a marketing supervisor -- could be folded together to successfully launch an online media and advocacy operation. With an election approaching and liberals' appetite for anti-Trump content peaking, their audience was already in place.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/politics/meidastouch-trump-videos/index.html
Three brothers are behind a series of viral videos trolling Trump (MeidasTouch)
Three brothers are behind a series of viral videos trolling Trump
By Gregory Krieg and Ryan Nobles, CNN
Updated 9:12 PM ET, Tue July 21, 2020
(CNN)A little known Democratic group called MeidasTouch posted a video on Twitter less than two weeks ago that began with Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump's longtime aide, lashing out at presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The former vice president had made "a lot of really creepy statements" in the past, Conway said, "that make me very uncomfortable, certainly as a mother but as a person who breathes air and exercises brain capacity."
But Biden's name is never mentioned, and what follows in the video is a mashup of Trump's own words -- from when he suggested, on "The View," that if "Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her," to his speculating in another old interview about daughter Tiffany's future physical appearance.
By Tuesday afternoon, the so-called "Creepy Trump" video had more than 6.3 million views on Twitter.
From their respective pandemic lockdowns in New York and Los Angeles earlier this year, the three brothers who founded MeidasTouch began to turn over an idea -- and an opportunity. Ben, 35, Brett, 30, and 27-year-old Jordan Meiselas had been captive audiences to Trump's coronavirus press conferences and, feeling frustrated and angry with time on their hands, started a blog. Opinion and aggregation soon turned into the rapid production of political videos.
New York natives, the brothers decided that their experiences across different professions -- Ben is a lawyer; Brett a video editor; and Jordan a marketing supervisor -- could be folded together to successfully launch an online media and advocacy operation. With an election approaching and liberals' appetite for anti-Trump content peaking, their audience was already in place.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/politics/meidastouch-trump-videos/index.html
July 22, 2020
5 hours ago
The Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Florida’s Century-Old Campaign of Racist Disenfranchisement
Activists are raising money to help people convicted of felonies pay off their legal debts.
Abigail Weinberg
The Supreme Court struck a major blow against voting rights in Florida last week when it let stand a lower court decision that blocked as many as 1.4 million people who had previously been convicted of felonies from casting ballots until they pay all fines, court fees, and restitution. While the decision leaves intact a major financial barrier to voting, activists in the state are now banking on public support to help people pay down their legal debts and return to civic life.
The Supreme Court’s decision centers around Florida’s longstanding felon-disenfranchisement policy, which—as my colleague Ari Berman reported in 2018—has an ugly, racist history and can apply to people convicted of relatively minor crimes:
In 2018, Florida voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, a ballot initiative intended to restore voting rights to most ex-felons who have completed their sentences. But last year, the swing state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a law requiring ex-felons to pay all fines and court fees, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, before becoming eligible to vote—a rule voting rights activists have likened to a modern-day poll tax.
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/07/florida-felon-disenfranchisement/
The Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Florida's Century-Old Campaign of Racist Disenfranchisement
5 hours ago
The Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Florida’s Century-Old Campaign of Racist Disenfranchisement
Activists are raising money to help people convicted of felonies pay off their legal debts.
Abigail Weinberg
The Supreme Court struck a major blow against voting rights in Florida last week when it let stand a lower court decision that blocked as many as 1.4 million people who had previously been convicted of felonies from casting ballots until they pay all fines, court fees, and restitution. While the decision leaves intact a major financial barrier to voting, activists in the state are now banking on public support to help people pay down their legal debts and return to civic life.
The Supreme Court’s decision centers around Florida’s longstanding felon-disenfranchisement policy, which—as my colleague Ari Berman reported in 2018—has an ugly, racist history and can apply to people convicted of relatively minor crimes:
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, Florida disenfranchises more citizens than Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee combined. Ten percent of the state’s adult population is ineligible to vote because of a criminal record, including 1 in 5 African Americans. Florida counts 533 different infractions as felonies, including crimes like disturbing a lobster trap and trespassing on a construction site. “Come on Vacation, Leave on Probation” is an unofficial slogan…
After the Civil War, the white Confederates who still controlled Florida had a problem: The state had been forced to accept the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which guaranteed equal rights for newly freed slaves, in order to rejoin the Union, and now black registered voters outnumbered white ones. White Floridians responded by adopting a constitution in 1868 that disenfranchised anyone with a felony conviction and added to the felony roster a variety of crimes they believed African Americans were likelier to be convicted of. One Republican leader said the law would keep the state from becoming “niggerized.” A decade later, more than 95 percent of people in Florida’s convict camps were African Americans.
In the same period, at least 12 other states—a third of the Union—adopted similar felon disenfranchisement laws. Before the advent of poll taxes and literacy tests, “felon voting restrictions were the first widespread set of legal disenfranchisement measures that would be imposed on African-Americans,” wrote Jeff Manza, Christopher Uggen, and Angela Behrens in the American Journal of Sociology.
After the Civil War, the white Confederates who still controlled Florida had a problem: The state had been forced to accept the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which guaranteed equal rights for newly freed slaves, in order to rejoin the Union, and now black registered voters outnumbered white ones. White Floridians responded by adopting a constitution in 1868 that disenfranchised anyone with a felony conviction and added to the felony roster a variety of crimes they believed African Americans were likelier to be convicted of. One Republican leader said the law would keep the state from becoming “niggerized.” A decade later, more than 95 percent of people in Florida’s convict camps were African Americans.
In the same period, at least 12 other states—a third of the Union—adopted similar felon disenfranchisement laws. Before the advent of poll taxes and literacy tests, “felon voting restrictions were the first widespread set of legal disenfranchisement measures that would be imposed on African-Americans,” wrote Jeff Manza, Christopher Uggen, and Angela Behrens in the American Journal of Sociology.
In 2018, Florida voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, a ballot initiative intended to restore voting rights to most ex-felons who have completed their sentences. But last year, the swing state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a law requiring ex-felons to pay all fines and court fees, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, before becoming eligible to vote—a rule voting rights activists have likened to a modern-day poll tax.
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/07/florida-felon-disenfranchisement/
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