Florida authorities arrested a Black man whereas he was staying in a homeless shelter and charged him with voting illegally in a case tied to Republicans’ drive to root out election fraud.
However Kelvin Bolton’s arrest raises questions concerning the rollout of Modification 4, handed by Florida voters in 2018 to revive voting rights to Floridians with felony convictions.
The case is among the first of its form since Florida ended the Jim Crow-era voting coverage that disproportionately affected Black residents. Bolton’s arrest exhibits how the constitutional modification now could be being weaponized in opposition to poor individuals who might not understand they’re committing against the law.
When regulation enforcement discovered 55-year-old Bolton on the homeless shelter and arrested him for unlawful voting, in keeping with court docket data and as first reported by Contemporary Take Florida on the College of Florida, he was on early launch from jail however nonetheless serving two-and-a-half years for theft and easy battery.
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Bolton, who’s at the moment being held within the Alachua County jail on $30,000 bail, is considered one of 10 individuals not too long ago charged within the Gainesville, Florida, space with third-degree felonies for unlawful voting. Eight of the ten are Black males.
All of them registered to vote whereas in jail or mailed ballots from jail, however had unpaid fines and costs from prior felony convictions that barred them from voting beneath a 2019 regulation, in keeping with the state lawyer’s workplace. Every is dealing with a possible 5 years in jail and a $5,000 high-quality.
Bolton at the moment owes $7,018 in unpaid court docket fines and costs, together with $1,500 in lawyer and indigent look charges, in keeping with an evaluation of court docket data.
Voter registration
Bolton had registered to vote in July 2020 throughout a voter registration drive within the county jail carried out by Alachua County’s Democratic elections supervisor, Kim Barton. Bolton forged a poll by mail in August and November 2020.
“If somebody within the jail got here as much as him and stated, ‘Hey, man, you realize you may vote? Though you’re in jail,’ Kelvin would vote,” stated Bolton’s sister, Derbra Owete. “He wouldn’t query it as a result of anyone in authority informed him he might vote.”
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She described her brother as gullible and impressionable. Though she is just not conscious of a proper prognosis, she believes he’s mentally in poor health. As a baby and grownup, he not often had a secure residence, she stated. He was positioned in foster care till his sister gained custody of him and two of their siblings.
Bolton registered as a Republican, however Owete stated she doubts he is aware of the variations between the 2 events.
Dedrick De’Ron Baldwin, one other one of many 10 individuals dealing with unlawful voting expenses stemming from the voter registration drive, informed Contemporary Take Florida that he didn’t know he was ineligible.
“They informed us that if we weren’t already convicted of our present crime then we have been in a position to enroll and vote,” he wrote from jail to Contemporary Take Florida. “They in all probability signed 65 or 70 individuals up that day, so I don’t perceive how I could be charged with voter misconduct. All I used to be doing was what they informed me I had a proper to do.”
Barton declined to touch upon the voter registration drive, directing all inquiries to prosecutors. All staff of her workplace have been cleared of any wrongdoing in reference to the drive.
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Darry Lloyd, chief investigator with the workplace of Republican State Legal professional Brian Kramer, stated that every one people charged with unlawful voting dedicated crimes as a result of they knowingly registered to vote whereas ineligible, after which forged ballots.
“They knew they didn’t have the correct to vote they usually did it anyway,” Lloyd stated. “When you’re a convicted felon and you’ve got a number of felonies, then you realize that you simply don’t have the correct to vote.”
However that’s now not the regulation in Florida.
In 2018, almost two-thirds of Florida voters accepted Modification 4, which restores voting rights to most individuals with felony convictions who’ve accomplished the phrases of their sentence. The modification initially restored the correct to vote to roughly 1.4 million individuals.
However shortly after the election, the state’s GOP-controlled legislature handed a regulation requiring that individuals with felony convictions repay all fines, charges, and restitution related to their sentence earlier than they’re eligible to register to vote. After GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the regulation in June 2019, roughly 774,000 individuals who would have been eligible to vote have been now not allowed.
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A number of voting rights teams introduced authorized challenges to the regulation, and in an opinion in Could 2020, a federal choose stated Republicans had created an “administrative practice wreck” and dominated that the individuals blocked from voting might nonetheless take part in elections. However a federal appeals court docket overturned that order. The back-and-forth created widespread confusion and left many Floridians unclear about their eligibility to vote.
Fines and costs
States Newsroom couldn’t decide how a lot Bolton knew about his unpaid fines and costs. The county jail solely permits reporters to schedule calls with detainees with permission from the person’s lawyer, and Bolton’s public defender declined to touch upon ongoing litigation. They stated they don’t consider it’s of their consumer’s greatest curiosity to remark, both.
“We’re disenchanted that the State Legal professional has chosen to prosecute any people beneath this statute, notably contemplating the shortage of readability in regulation and the problem people face in figuring out if their sentences could be deemed ‘full’ beneath the regulation,” Stacy Scott, the workplace’s lead public defender, wrote in an e-mail.
Most of Bolton’s payments for court docket charges have been forwarded to assortment companies, in keeping with court docket data. However Bolton’s sister stated he hasn’t had a secure handle or residence for a few years and will have been onerous to trace down.
It’s additionally unclear how Bolton might have decided that he owed unpaid charges whereas he was within the county jail, as he wouldn’t have been in a position to attain out to the clerk’s workplace to find out the full.
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Lloyd stated that Kramer is creating an initiative with supervisors of elections in order that residents can confirm their voting standing in the event that they’re not sure, however no such system exists now.
“The state has an impenetrable system of data,” stated Jonathan Diaz, a voting rights lawyer with the Marketing campaign Authorized Heart, which filed go well with in opposition to Florida difficult the regulation requiring the cost of fines and costs. Even veteran county clerks have hassle determining who’s eligible to vote, in keeping with Diaz.
This bureaucratic morass is “by design as a result of that’s the system that Florida created for this,” he added. The arrests, he stated, are “extra an indictment of Florida than the rest.”
Intention of Modification 4
Florida regulation requires that residents decide for themselves whether or not they’re eligible to vote.
However Neil Volz, deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition that campaigned efficiently for Modification 4, stated that’s not in line with what voters supposed after they restored voting rights to individuals with felony convictions.
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“This case exemplifies that our work to dwell as much as the promise of Modification 4 is much from over,” he stated, referring to Bolton. “If individuals in Florida can not depend on the federal government for assurances that they’ll vote, who can they depend on?”
Florida has no centralized system for somebody with a felony conviction to find out whether or not they owe fines or court docket prices. For an individual with a document in a number of counties, figuring out eligibility would require contacting a number of county clerks, a few of whom would not have any written document of how a lot excellent cash individuals owe.
It’s frequent for individuals like Bolton, who lack a gradual revenue and expertise homelessness, to have unpaid court docket fines and costs, stated Sarah Couture, Florida state director for the Fines and Charges Justice Heart.
“In Florida statutes, judges aren’t given the power at sentencing to take somebody’s particular person state of affairs into consideration and do what is known as a capability to pay evaluation,” she stated. “Most fines and costs are obligatory in evaluation and their quantities are as nicely. Judges have little or no discretion in terms of fines and costs.”
It’s additionally not distinctive that Bolton owes $1,500 in attorneys charges, although he’s indigent and wanted public defenders supplied by the state.
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“Regardless of the Sixth Modification to america Structure, it’s typical for indigent people to not solely pay for his or her public protection but in addition for his or her prosecution,” Couture stated. “They even should pay a $50 utility charge for his or her public defender.”
Throughout america, 18 states cost an upfront utility charge for a public defender and 43 states have authorization to cost for a public defender, in keeping with FFJC.
Citizen criticism
The fees in Alachua County stem from a citizen criticism, in keeping with Lloyd. Florida resident Mark Glaeser notified officers a few listing of potential unlawful voters final yr, in keeping with the Gainesville Solar.
Lloyd stated the state lawyer’s workplace despatched the criticism to native regulation enforcement to analyze, however as a result of the alleged offenses came about within the jail, which is operated by the sheriff, they handed the allegations on to the state.
The Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement, which is overseen by the governor and state Cupboard, comprising the independently elected lawyer normal, chief monetary officer, and commissioner of agriculture and client providers, carried out an eight-month investigation into the allegations.
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Extra voters is also charged with unlawful voting because the investigation continues. And, advocates concern that, like Bolton, those that could possibly be arrested might do not know they’re even committing against the law.
“I don’t consider that he knew he was committing fraud,” Bolton’s sister stated. “ I do really feel like he’s a pawn.”
Florida husband’s cunning trap before shooting dead his estranged wife and wounding their dog two weeks after separating – as his chilling texts emerge
A Florida man who allegedly fatally shot his estranged wife and wounded their dog set a cunning trap to snare her.
Timothy Kramer, 51, was lying in wait inside the couple’s Pensacola home when his wife Rosa, 47, came to collect her belongings, police said.
Authorities believe the gunman deliberately parked his pick up truck in the backyard so it would not be seen before opening fire, the Pensacola News Journal reports.
‘It is reasonable to believe that Timothy Kramer attempted to conceal his vehicle behind the privacy fence in an effort to avoid Rosa Kramer from knowing he was present at the residence,’ a police report by Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.
Once inside, Kramer allegedly shot Rosa in the head and injured their seven-year-old dog Cody who was rushed to the veterinary hospital, but managed to survive.
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Florida man Timothy Kramer, 51, is accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife Rosa after lying in wait for her at their Pensacola home
He has been charged with first degree murder and aggravated animal abuse.
‘In the bedroom, I noticed a significant amount of blood on the flooring and surrounding areas, along with smeared blood and what appeared to be bloody footprints leading from the bedroom to the hallway,’ the police report said.
The couple had been separated for just two weeks when the incident occurred on Tuesday.
The alarm was raised after Rosa could not be reached by phone. Once they arrived at the scene on Hillcrest Drive, deputies discovered her body.
Kramer was picked up by Milton police in Santa Rosa County and was with an unidentified woman.
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The woman told police that Kramer said he had shot his wife in self defense.
Rosa, 47, was found with a bullet wound in her head on Tuesday after she had gone back to the property to collect her things
Police said the couple had been separated for two weeks when the incident occurred. Kramer is said to have parked his truck around back to be able to sneak up on his wife
Kramer is also accused of shooting their dog Cody, 7, who survived the ordeal
‘She advised that Timothy Kramer called her at approximately 6 a.m. and confessed that he had shot Rosa Kramer and claimed it was in self-defense,’ the police report said.
‘(Redacted) said she urged Timothy Kramer to contact law enforcement and explain the situation to avoid getting into trouble.’
However, police determined that Kramer, ‘provided a fictitious story’ which ‘lead her to believe he was not in any trouble regarding the incident.’
Text messages between the accused and the unidentified woman state, ‘It is all good I did this it is on me.’
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A man reportedly told police he was concerned about Rosa being around her ex ever since she left him because ‘he began calling her and threatening to shoot himself if she didn’t come back,’ according to the report.
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Florida husband’s cunning trap before shooting dead his estranged wife and wounding their dog two weeks after separating – as his chilling texts emerge
An 11-year-Virginia boy has been charged in Florida with calling in more than 20 bomb or shooting threats to schools and other places, authorities said Thursday.
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Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said that authorities worked hard to find the caller before the school year resumes.
“This kid’s behavior was escalating and becoming more dangerous,” Staly said. “I’m glad we got him before he escalated out of control and hurt someone.”
Swatting is slang for making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to send a SWAT team or other armed police officers to a particular place.
Flagler County emergency services initially received a bomb threat at Buddy Taylor Middle School on May 14, officials said. Additional threats were made between then and May 22.
Investigators tracked the calls to a home in Henrico County, Virginia, just outside Richmond. Local deputies searched the home this month, and the 11-year-old boy who lived there admitted to placing the Florida swatting calls, as well as a threat made to the Maryland State House, authorities said. Investigators later determined that the boy also made swatting calls in Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Alaska.
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The boy faces 29 felony counts and 14 misdemeanors, officials said. He’s being held in a Virginia juvenile detention facility while Florida officials arrange for his extradition. Investigators didn’t immediately say whether the boy had a connection to Florida.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested in Florida in May, several days after the initial call, for making a copycat threat to Buddy Taylor Middle School.
The plan was to reportedly simulate an attack on the Soviet Union as part of the exercise, and everything was going well — until another training mission mistakenly crashed into the B-47 carrying the bomb.
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As a result, the pilot chose to let loose the bomb over the water off Tybee Island in Georgia before making an emergency landing in a nearby swamp.
Tybee Island Lighthouse (Photo by J. Miers via Wikimedia/Creative Commons)
The bomb didn’t go off even after dropping into the ocean below, though that could be because the nuclear material needed to set such bombs off was typically kept separate from the weapon until it was needed, the BBC reports.
DID THEY FIND IT?
Federal officials spent over two weeks searching for the bomb in the aftermath, but it was ultimately determined to be irretrievable.
While a receipt written by the pilot shows that the necessary capsule wasn’t added to the bomb before the training exercise — meaning it wouldn’t be at a huge risk of detonation — other federal officials have claimed otherwise, such as a former Assistant Secretary of Defense W.J. Howard, who claimed that the bomb was “complete.”
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“He concluded that despite our best efforts, the possibility of an accidental nuclear explosion still existed,” a declassified report reads.
Nowadays, the bomb is thought to be covered by several feet of silt on the seabed, but if the explosives within are still intact, it could pose a major hazard to the environment. As such, federal officials have determined that it should be left undisturbed — even by further recovery attempts.
CAN AN ATOMIC BOMB GO OFF UNDERWATER?
If it’s actually off the coast of Tybee Island, then yes: the bomb can still detonate, even underwater.
In 1946, the U.S. tested an atomic bomb at the Bikini Atoll — in the Pacific Ocean far southwest of Hawaii — by suspending it below several ships filled with pigs and rats.
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After it was set off underwater, nearly all of the animals died, either thanks to the initial explosion or from the radiation poisoning afterward. And the area is still irradiated to this day.
The Baker test during Operation Crossroads, a series of two nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll. 25th July 1946. The purpose of the operation, which included two shots, ABLE and BAKER, was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval warships. Mushroom-shaped cloud and water column from the underwater Baker nuclear explosion. Photo taken from a tower on Bikini Island, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away. Marshall Islands, Pacific. (PHoto by Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images) (2015 Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)
WHAT HAPPENS IF IT DETONATES?
For starters: it doesn’t appear as likely that the bomb will explode.
While Howard initially claimed the bomb was complete, a military spokesman told The Atlantic in 2001 that they’d spoken with him, and “he agreed that his memo was in error.”
But if the bomb did manage to get outfitted with a plutonium trigger and detonated, it would erupt into an explosion with a mile-wide radius — and thermal radiation reaching 10 times that distance, according to the Savannah Morning News.
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That would no doubt cause havoc within the immediate proximity, but on the bright side, Tybee Island is well over 100 miles (roughly a two-hour drive) from Florida’s border. This means Florida residents have little to fear from the direct impacts of such an explosion.
So you can sleep tight knowing you’re not likely to find yourself on the worse end of a nuclear weapon.
That being said, there are still plenty of other scary things in Florida to keep you up at night.
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