Kentucky should take a cue from Florida — and it’s not about winning basketball championships. It’s about an issue of restorative justice.

Last week, Florida broke from its past when the state’s clemency board — at the urging of Gov. Charlie Crist — voted to allow most felony offenders who have completed their sentences to automatically regain their voting rights after they have paid any restitution and have no pending criminal charges. The restoration of civil rights also includes their right to serve on a jury or hold a state-licensed job.

Those convicted of murder, sex offenses and terrorism will still need an investigation of their cases and a hearing before the clemency board for their civil rights to be restored. However, its is estimated that about 80 percent of offenders who have served their time in prison will be covered by the new policy and will have their voting rights automatically restored.

Why should Kentucky pay heed to what Florida has done?

Before the Florida clemency board approved the changes, Florida was one of three states that withheld voting rights for all felons. Now, only Kentucky and Virginia fall into that category.

The recent Kentucky legislative session had an opportunity to do what Florida has now done. But a proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to some felony offenders who have completed their sentences and parole died in the Senate after passing the House.

Why is restoration of voting rights to people who have committed serious crimes and have paid their dues to society important?

Listen to the explanation of Florida’s governor, who placed the state’s action in the context of Holy Week. “This is Holy Week, a week that is all about forgiveness,” Crist said before the clemency board voted April 5. “Restoring civil rights is the right thing to do.”

He added, “I believe in simple human justice and that when somebody has paid their debt to society, it is paid in full. There’s a time to move on, a time to give them an opportunity to have redemption.”

“Punishment should never be confused with revenge,” Crist said. “We need to be able to find it in our hearts to forgive. Our Creator does.”

Kentucky’s Catholic bishops called for the automatic restoration of voting rights for those who have completed their sentences in a 2005 statement on criminal justice. “Ex-offenders should be welcomed back into society as full participating members, to the extent feasible,” the bishops said. “It is in accord with our faith’s desire that persons who have completed their sentences should become ‘full participating members’ of society, which includes the right to vote.”

The Catholic Conference of Kentucky, public policy arm of the bishops, expanded on this point in supporting legislation to restore voting rights in the 2007 General Assembly.

“The right to vote is a foundation of citizenship,” the conference said. “We require ex-felons to pay taxes and comply with laws enacted by their legislators when they return to their communities. The right to vote, a hallmark of our democracy, should follow.”

The conference also noted: “The restoration of voting rights promotes rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. ... The greater degree to which ex-felons have positive connections with the community, the more likely it is that they will engage in positive social activity. People who vote become more a part of the community and have a greater stake in their society.”

Some Kentucky legislators who opposed the bill to restore voting rights to felons argued that the present system is working and no change is needed. But this is problematic. The number of applications to the governor for restoration of voting rights declined from 1,266 in fiscal year 2002-03 to 583 from July 2005-March 2006, according to a report last October by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.

Such applications are required now because Kentucky’s Constitution prohibits felony offenders from voting even after completing their sentence and parole. Their civil rights can be restored only by a pardon by the governor.

This constitutional prohibition is what the bill passed by the Kentucky House in the 2007 legislature would change. And this proposal — which would also need approval of voters — should be reconsidered and passed by both the House and Senate when the 2008 General Assembly convenes next January.