The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-10-05
CONVICTION OF PETTY LARCENY DIS.
QUALITIES 10 VOTE.
opinion Of the Atterney-GeneraI
ArroRKRY-GKNKRAL's OF1IcE,
Fra Octnher q. 1880.

no person convicted OF the crime Oh larceny since
August 8, A. d. 1858, the date of the approval of
the General Election Law, Chapter 1925, Laws
of Fiorida b entitled to vote in this State unless
he has subsequently been pardoned or restored,
to civil rights and that this is the case whether
the larceny Of which be has been convicted be
feIonT or q nsiademeoaor find from letter re-
ceived by you, and shown me by your Secretary,
that II is desired should put my views on the
question in writing. Believing it is due under
the circumstances, both TO you and 10 myself
proceed to do so.
Section Q of Article IA of the Constitution OF
1858, which article is entitled Suffrage and Eli
gibility," is as follows
mo person under guardianship, non c0mp0S
mentis or insane, shall be qualified to vote at any
election, nor shall any person convicted of felony
be qualified to vote at any election unless restored
to civil rights"
Section 4 of the same article is as follows:
1.-THE Legislature shdN haze poscer and shall en-
act the necessary laws to exclude from any office
of honor power trust or profit civil or military,
within the State, and from the right Of suffrage,
all persons convicted OF bribery perjury larceny,
or of infamous crime, or who shall make or
become, directly or indirectly, interested in any
bet or wager, the result OF which shall depend on
any election; or who shall hereafter fight duel
or send or accept a challenge TO fight or who
shall be q second to either party or be the bearer
OF such challenge or acceptance; but the legal
disability shall not accrue until alter trial and
conviction by due form of law"
The purpose and effect of section 2, quoted
above, is to preclude any one convicted of any
felony from veting, so long as he has not been re-
stored to civil rights. Assuming the existence of
the usual criminal laws for the trial and punish
meat of offenders against the law, may safely
say that no legislation was necessary to give the
disqualifying provisions of this section vitality
1t enforced itself, and from the day the Constitu
ton Of 1858 became the organic law Of Florida
any person thereafter convicted of any felony,
by any court Of competent jurisdiction, became
disqualified to vote, if, prior to the time of such
conviction, he was qualified; and, if for any rea-
son, he had not up to the time of such conviction
become qualified, il prevented him from ever be-
coming so unless he should be restored TO civil
rights
Had the trainers of the Constitution intended
that a conviction of crime should not prevent a
person from voting unless the crime amounted
provision on the subject than is contained in Sec
tion2 1t would have been unnecessary. No
language could more clearly express this intent,
had such been their only intent. We see, how
ever, that in section 4 they have gone further
and provided that the Legislature shall have pow
er, and shall enact the necessary laws TO exclude
from Office land from the right of suffrage, all
"persons convicted of bribery, perjury, larceny
"or of infamous crime" or duelling, or betting
on elections Having themselves in section 2,
settled the question as to feOntes in section 4, in
which nothing is said of felonies as class, they
address themselves to specific crimes and direct
the Legislature, in plain and positive language, to
provide laws excluding persons convicted of any
of them from holding office or voting From the
specification of the crimes mentioned in section
4, ii is manifest that the convention, upon full
consideration of the subject, decided that con-
viction of the crimes of bribery, forgery or lar
ceny, or of any Infamous crime, whatever
crimes might be Infamous, or of duellng or bet
ti8R nW eleGtippa shoQlq eEea!s an ineaPaey 70
mics or not. Any other construction renders
section A. in So far as it relates to suffrage, not
only superfuous and useless, but is contrary to
its plain meaning under the ordinary rules OF
construction. 1t cannot be assumed that this
section was intended to mean nothing as to suf-
frage more than section 2 means.
The Legislature, at its first session under the
Constitution referred to, proceeded to carry out
the command of the Constitution. Section of
Chapter 1925 provides as follows:
The following classes of persons shall not be
entitled 10 vote:
Persons under guardianship; ~ q
III. Persons who are insane or idiotic;
III. Persons hereafter connected felony, bribery,
perjury. larceny, or other infamous crime:
Nv. Persons convicted of fighting duel with
deadly weapons, or sending or accepting a chal-
lenge to fight duel, or of knowingly being the
bearer of a challenge to fight duel with deadly
weapons, or of the acceptance of such challenge
V. Persons convicted of making, or becoming
directly or indirectly interested in any bet or
wager, the result of which shall depend upon
any election; but this prohibition shall cease
after the expiration Of two years from the COM
mission Of the offence.
We perceive that in an abundance of caution
the Legislature has repeated the declaration of
Of the Constitution as to persons convicted of
felony and persons under guardianship and in
sane persons, using the word idiotc instead Of
non cOnpOs mseDti& AS TO persons convicted of
bribery, perjury, larceny or infamous crimes the
Legislature has used the same words as the Con-
stitution except that the word other" is interpo-
lated between cor and "infamous" Neither the
Constitution nor the statute gave any direction to
the Legislature to limit the disqualifying power
to any particular grade Of larceny, bribery per-
jury. It's language means larceny Of any grade
Such, too, is the plain meaning of the statute
The insertion of the word other" assuming
that it can have any effect at ALL would be either
to show that the Legislature of 1868 regarded
larceny as an infamous crime, or that it intended
that no larceny not amounting TO an infamous
crime should have, upon a conviction thereof
the disqualifying effect. Taking the former as
sumption, comment is unnecessary. Taking the
latter, t .. that q larceny not amounting to an
infamous crime should not work disqualified
ton, the question then arises, What are Infamous
crimes in Florida
This question IL discussed in the case of King
VI. State, az Fla, 1881 Section 8 of the Decla-
ration of Rights provides that no person shall be
tried for capital or other wise "ivameus crime,
except cases Of impeachment and in cases OF the
militia, when In active service in time of war, or
which the State may keep in time Of peace, and
In cases Of petit larceny, under the regulation of
the Legislature, unless on presentment and in.
dictment by grand jury An information was
fled against the plaintiff ID error, King, for keep