Civil rights backlog shrinks

[Freddie Stubbs]

BY GARY FINEOUT
[e-mail]

Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to announce this week that Florida has significantly reduced a backlog of applications from thousands of ex-prisoners seeking to have their civil rights restored.

That could possibly open the door for the former convicts to be able to once again vote, obtain a state license, or even in some rare instances, own a gun. But in most cases that decision will ultimately be left up to the governor and the Cabinet, who act as the state's clemency board.

The clemency board is scheduled to meet this Thursday. At that meeting, Bush is expected to announce that the state has tried to assist or has processed the paperwork for nearly 125,000 felons released from prison or parole between 1992 and 2001.

It was unclear Tuesday how many of those felons have been contacted by the state. A spokeswoman for Bush would not reveal any details of the announcement -- including how many applications have been processed -- or how many ex-prisoners would have a chance to have their rights restored.

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