I know it's not exactly the same thing...

[Iggo]

...but it sure is weird watching people vote on your civil rights, even if it's just a DU poll. I feel like I just got punched in the heart.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9438538&mesg_id=9438538

[Behind the Aegis]

1. It's not 'exactly' the same thing...

...it is the same thing. Others may not feel the same as I do.

You are a citizen of this country and one of those rights is the right to vote, to have your rights stripped after release is unconstitutional (IMHO).

[readmoreoften]

2. It's not the same immiseration and oppression. But its immiseration and oppression.

So, yes, its the same. I feel like I've been punched in the heart most days here. Welcome.

I am sorry for your loss of rights.

[pgodbold]

3. I applied for restoration of my civil right to vote in October 2007.

The State of Florida is now working on the requests submitted in June 2007. Yes, over three years backlog and it is intentional. It's done to keep black folk out of the voting booth (it is assumed that anyone who has commited a felony must be black). Part of the old Jim Crow laws http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws .

I have paid my debt to society including jail time, fines, restitution, court costs etc however I remain disenfranchised. Florida is one of the very few states that does not automatically restore rights after legalities are over.

Great site for this issue: http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/index.cfm

If we ever get a Democratic governor here (democrat Alex Sink was one point ahead last night) this bullshit will of course be over.

[Iggo]

4. In California, most of my rights were restored upon completion of my sentence.

Weird ones that I never thought of started popping up, though, like gun ownership (can't have one, though I'm not a gun guy so nothing has really changed there, but still...) and jury duty (not allowed to serve). I'm sure there are others. But the right to vote is something I looked into immediately after I got out, because people were telling me that I'd lost the right to vote for the rest of my life. I was relieved to find nothing prohibiting that right. Yay, California.

I've been told in recent years that I can apply to have my rights fully restored, and I probably should do that. Though I will miss checking the felon box, with a satisfied smile, on the jury duty form. "Dang. Sorry I don't qualify. See you in six months!"

Back on topic: For just a moment last night, I felt a sense of hopeless desperation reading people discussing my civil rights and being called "they" and "them". I didn't like it. Not one bit. The best part is, it was only a moment. The worst part is, there are gay people living all day every day with these kinds of feelings, and it breaks my heart to think someone could be so hopelessly deserate that they just give up. This shouldn't be happening. Not in America. Not anywhere.