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Crist Calls Into Question Parole Board’s Decisions
12/10/09 - 02:33 PM
Associated Press
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click for larger image Tallahassee, Fla:

Florida’s Parole Commission has discovered it mistakenly restored rights to about a dozen ex-felons. Gov. Crist is calling it human error.

But that means Crist and members of the Florida Cabinet must take back those rights.

The governor and the three Cabinet members signed orders revoking the rights of 11 convicts. They lose the right to vote, serve on a jury and hold elective office.

A Parole Commission audit found errors in 13 of 203 cases that were randomly sampled. Two of those felons had already lost their civil rights because they ended up back in prison again.

Gov. Crist hopes commission staffers are more diligent about avoiding mistakes in the future.

“We just encourage that they not be made. There’s human error in a lot of things that happen and I know these people are trying to do the best that they can and sometimes mistakes occur. When they do, you try to rectify it. That’s the best you can do.”

Crist and the Cabinet sit as the Board of Executive Clemency, which must approve restoring civil rights in the most serious cases.

For lesser crimes, the Parole Commission can automatically restore rights if minimum requirements are met such as paying restitution.

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