A federal judge ruled in October that it is unconstitutional for Florida to make ex-felons who have completed their sentences pay fines, legal fees, and restitution before having their voting rights restored under an amendment that took effect in January. The state’s lawyers are now arguing that if that ruling is allowed to stand, the entire law will be nullified, and ex-felons will be right back where they were before the amendment was passed—permanently barred from voting unless a merciful governor can be persuaded to restore their rights case by case. Since it became a state in 1845, Florida has barred felons from voting.