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"What Voters Should Be Asking Candidates this Election Season"
By: Howard L. Simon
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Florida
Now that another political season is upon us, will voters once again be subjected to a feel-good contest about personalities, or will some of Florida's troubling public policies be subjected to scrutiny?
Several civil rights and civil liberties issues that have yet to appear on the electoral radar screen deserve attention by the candidates before the polls close and the elections are over.
First, the time for informed and honest discussion of Florida's use of the death penalty is long past due. Shouldn't it trouble lawmakers that Florida leads the nation in the number of people (24, as of this writing) that the State has been forced to release from death row due to the discovery of exculpatory evidence, defense by incompetent counsel or the revelation of police or prosecutorial misconduct?
Opponents and supporters of state executions should be able to agree that, whatever the purpose of the system, it isn't working. The most comprehensive study of the death penalty in America, released by Columbia University, has shown that, for whatever reason, two of every three death sentences are set aside on appeal. It is time to stop executions, at least until we can figure out why the system isn't working ? particularly here in Florida.
Second, candidates should address issues regarding the quality of our system of education. A few years ago, Florida lawmakers approved the only statewide scheme to divert public education dollars to support attendance at private, mainly parochial schools. Some in the legislature now want to drop the pretense, used to get the camel's nose under the tent, that the program is intended to prevent students from being trapped in failing schools. They want vouchers for everyone -- including parents who had already enrolled their children in a church-run school.
While we await the judgment of the state and federal courts about the constitutionality of the voucher scheme, we can only wonder what is on the minds of lawmakers when they claimed that the way to improve the neighborhood public schools that most families rely on is to use tax dollars to support church-run schools.
While Florida strives to be Number 1 in using tax dollars for religious education, more obvious and more direct strategies to improve the public schools have been shunned. Reducing the teacher-student ratio, for example, is perhaps the single most effective reform that can improve the quality of education in the public schools. Florida, however, ranks 43rd of all the states in teacher-student ratio.
Third, candidates also need to address questions about the state of democracy in Florida. Everyone knows that our state led the nation in the number of disqualified votes in the November 2000 election. Shouldn't our policymakers be equally concerned that the State also leads the nation in the number of disenfranchised voters?
The impact of Florida's felony disenfranchisement system, enshrined in our State Constitution since shortly after the Civil War, is perhaps this State's overriding civil rights problem. In Florida, approximately one of three adult black males cannot vote as a result of felony disenfranchisement ? a percentage almost three times greater than the percentage of black males disenfranchised nationwide.
There are, of course, other issues that voters and candidates need to raise and address. For example, in a state that is perhaps the most ethnically and religiously diverse in the nation, why do some lawmakers insist on introducing divisive religious practices into the public school classroom rather than leave the job of religious upbringing to parents? Will the security measures being advocated, including those affecting access to marriage and driver's licenses, make us safer from another horrible terrorist attack, or will they just make the lives of our immigrant population more difficult? Worse, are the proposals just excuses to authorize more government secrecy and reduce the check-and-balance role of the courts?
If the candidates address these issues, voters will be able to choose candidates who will advance sound policies rather than candidates with more pleasing personalities.
Let the sun shine on Florida's troubling public policies this election season.
