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Clemency Board Holds 11th Hour Meeting

April 25th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda

Florida’s Governor and Cabinet will hold a rare meeting later tonight sitting as the Executive Clemency Board. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the meeting comes just hours before the Board faces a Thursday deadline set by a Federal Court Judge.

On March 28th, Federal Judge Mark Walker Declared Florida’s Clemency process unconstitutional because if left too much up to the Governor and Board members. 

 

“I move to grant restoration of civil rights” Scott said in one case. He has the ultimate say, because without his vote, no one gets their rights back.

Desmond Meade, the organizer behind a November rights restoration ballot question has previously told us the process takes far too long. 

 

“And once they apply, what we’ve seen is a processing time upwards of ten years.”

The Judge set April 26 as the deadline for the Board to submit a new plan. 

A week later, the state appealed, asking a higher Federal court to stay the order. 

The Clemency Board has virtually nothing in the weeks since it asked a higher Federal Court to stay the judge’s order. Now they risk being in contempt.

The Board set a meeting for 9:30 Wednesday night. Now Veteran clemency watcher Mark Schlakman says the Board is scrambling.

 

“It suggests they didn’t take the court seriously” Schlakman told us Wednesday.

Asked about the meeting Wednesday morning in Tampa , Governor Rick Scott had only this to say: “Well, we’ll be reviewing that tonight. We’ll be reviewing exactly what the courts have decided and we’ll make a decision on how we go forward.”

Under the plan the current Governor and Cabinet adopted in 2011, about 5 thousand former felons got their rights back…that compared to more than 155 thousand who were processed by the previous administration in half the time.

Tonights meeting, unless it is cancelled because the Federal Court issues a stay before it starts, will be held via phone. The public is invited to speak to an empty Dias in the State Capitol.

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