ORLANDO, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist unveiled his criminal justice platform and picked up what he believes will be a key endorsement in the region in his bid for the governor’s mansion.
Crist, a former governor, also picked up the endorsement of Chris King, a 2018 gubernatorial candidate who later joined Andrew Gillum on the Democratic ticket as lieutenant governor Monday, minutes before the pair joined Orlando-area voting rights activists and elected officials for a roundtable on the subject.
Crist faces Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the Democratic primary, with the winner taking on Gov. Ron DeSantis next year.
King, who said he considers Fried a friend, said he’s backing Crist because he thinks he can both win and be transformational.
“I’ve run against the forces of DeSantis and Trump and they’re tough, and they’re reckless and they can be mean, but I believe Charlie is the type of candidate that has all the skills and gifts and name identification across the state that can take a message of hope and healing and take Florida in another direction,” said King, who lives in Winter Park.
In his Justice for All agenda, Crist vowed to focus on automatically restoring voting rights of convicted felons who have completed prison sentences, while they continue to pay off court costs and other restitution. Also, he said he’d speed up clemency requests.
As governor from 2007 to 2011, Crist, then a Republican, said his administration restored the rights of more than 150,000 Floridians, a policy which fell by the wayside with his successors Rick Scott and DeSantis, he said.
“I believed in forgiveness then and I believe in forgiveness now,” he said.
Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill, a convicted felon, was seated to Crist’s right and said her rights were restored under Crist. Hill’s criminal history made it difficult to find a place to live and a job.
“I was able to turn around it because there was a good Republican at that time called Charlie Crist,” said Hill, a Democrat, who took office in 2013. “Thank god for being in that number. Charlie Crist automatically restored my rights.”
Crist’s agenda also touched on reducing gun violence, promising to partner with local governments and grassroots groups with gun-safety campaigns and strengthening social services and better affordable housing. It also includes pushing stronger gun laws to include universal background checks and banning assault weapons.
The roundtable included Hill, King, City Commissioner Bakari Burners, State Attorney Monique Worrell, as well as activists with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and candidate for Orlando City Council, Nicolette Springer.
Worrell, state attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, said she decided to run for office, which she won last year, after realizing that the legal system treated people differently, often because of race, gender or religion, and leaned too heavily on incarceration and not second chances.
She spoke of her frustrations with criminal justice reform being likened with being anti-law enforcement, and frustrations that incarceration rates have increased over decades.
“Those two are not one and the same and they should not be discussed within the same context because it’s perfectly aligned to want criminal justice reform and also support law enforcement in the jobs that they do on a day-to-day basis.”
She alluded to an incident last month, where a man with a prior criminal history struck a police officer in the back of the head with a brick while streaming the video of him doing so live on Facebook.
William McLish, 27, faces numerous charges for the attack and had previous arrests for charges such as drug possession, robbery and attacking a security guard.
Worrell, who drew criticism following the attack, said that example garners news headlines, but isn’t reflective of other second-chance stories such as Hill’s, or others on the panel who are business owners.
“But the reality is giving people opportunities, doesn’t lead to crime,” she said. “I think that we need to begin putting these second-chance stories to the forefront. Because, what I see on the news at night, is the guy who I gave an opportunity went out and did something else. But he’s an isolated incident. He is not the norm.”
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