DESMOND MEADE

The man who spearheaded a movement that resulted in convicted felons getting their right to vote returned in Florida is demanding better record keeping from state officials.

The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition spent Wednesday in Tallahassee to observe Returning Citizens Legislative Advocacy Day 2022.

In 2018, the state passed Amendment 4 and restored voting rights to Florida’s formerly incarcerated. It’s a measure that local activist Desmond Meade said was necessary to fully reconnect returning citizens into society.

Desmond Meade, a former drug dealer who has garnered international accolades after leading the drive to pass a 2018 constitutional amendment to restore voting rights...

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida activist who led a movement to allow most former felons to vote is celebrating after getting a big surprise on Saturday. Desmond Meade is the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and under a new state process now has had more of his civil right restored. Read: Death investigation underway after deadly shooting in Winter Garden, deputies sayAs the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Meade spearheaded the successful 2018 effort to enact a voter-approved constitutional amendment restoring felon voting rights after their sentences are complete. Desmond Meade Civil Rights Restored "Surprise" https://t.co/eADpy7Jjvv — Desmond Meade (@desmondmeade) October 9, 2021Read: Shootout at Kissimmee hookah bar leaves woman dead, deputies sayMeade has tried and failed several times to get a pardon from the governor. The voter-approved law has also had a bumpy start after Republican lawmakers passed new laws that require felons to pay all their legal debts before having their rights restored.

The Florida activist who led a movement to allow most former felons to vote now has had more civil rights restored under a new state process.

Desmond Meade is one of this year’s 25 fellows selected for “originality, insight and potential,” according to the program’s website.

Meade spoke with 60 Minutes last year about the fight for Amendment 4 in Florida.

MacArthur Fellows In this photo provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Monica Muñoz Martinez sits for a portrait at the University of Texas in Austin on Sept. 16, 2021. The historian devoted to keeping alive stories of long-dead victims of racial violence along the Texas-Mexico border is among this year's MacArthur fellows and recipients of "genius grants." The historian and the activist are part of an eclectic group that includes scientists, economists, poets, and filmmakers. As in previous years, the work of several recipients involves topics that have been dominating the news — from voting rights to how history is taught in schools. “This (genius grant) means that each and every one in this country has the capacity to do something great."

MacArthur Fellows In this photo provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Monica Muñoz Martinez sits for a portrait at the University of Texas in Austin on Sept. 16, 2021. The historian devoted to keeping alive stories of long-dead victims of racial violence along the Texas-Mexico border is among this year's MacArthur fellows and recipients of "genius grants." The historian and the activist are part of an eclectic group that includes scientists, economists, poets, and filmmakers. As in previous years, the work of several recipients involves topics that have been dominating the news — from voting rights to how history is taught in schools. “This (genius grant) means that each and everyone in this country has the capacity to do something great."

MacArthur Fellows In this photo provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Monica Muñoz Martinez sits for a portrait at the University of Texas in Austin on Sept. 16, 2021. The historian devoted to keeping alive stories of long-dead victims of racial violence along the Texas-Mexico border is among this year's MacArthur fellows and recipients of "genius grants." The historian and the activist are part of an eclectic group that includes scientists, economists, poets, and filmmakers. As in previous years, the work of several recipients involves topics that have been dominating the news — from voting rights to how history is taught in schools. “This (genius grant) means that each and everyone in this country has the capacity to do something great."

Racism, COVID-19 and other big issues of the day figure prominently in the work of many of the 25 recipients of this year's John D.

One of the leading lights in Florida's felon rights movement is among the recipients of the annual John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grants...

ORLANDO, Fla. — The state’s top investigating agency has cleared a leading statewide voting rights advocacy group of any wrongdoing in a probe sparked by top state Republicans just before the November 2020 election. The FBI hasn’t contacted the Florida Restoration Rights Coalition, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did, tasked with trying to figure out whether donations to the nonpartisan voting rights advocacy group were being used to target minority voters. Their movement away from fines and fees for former convicted felons has continued, with a goal of 30,000 people this year. FRRC, Desmond Meade do outstanding work in the state of Florida and they should be encouraged by top Republicans in the state, instead of suppressed,” Scheller said. The average amount of fines or fees owed, they said, was about $1,500.

In 2019, after 89 years, Miami Shores elected the first Black woman to sit on its Village Council. In fact, Crystal Wagar automatically became mayor because she was the top vote-getter. Two years, later, two more Black women — one who now is the new mayor — have joined her on the five-member council, along with a gay white man. This is a welcome evolution.

The Republican governor on Wednesday rejected Meade’s request for a pardon, marking the second time in six months that Meade’s appeal for clemency was denied. The new clemency rules eliminated five- and seven-year waiting periods imposed by former Gov. Rick Scott, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and other clemency board members in 2011. Meade said Wednesday’s victory on the new clemency rules overrode his personal loss. Under the approved clemency changes, those people would have not only their voting rights but their other civil rights restored, Meade noted.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – With Election Day being less than two weeks away, leaders from the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition said statewide they’ve paid off fines and fees for 40,000 returning citizens in an effort to encourage them to vote. The organization used Saturday as a statewide day of action where thousands of returning citizens are expected to early vote. “This year is the first time they get a chance to participate with society,” he said. He said his organization has since paid off fines and fees for more than 40,000 returning citizens statewide so they can vote. After performing at Florida Rights Restoration Coalition’s #FreeTheVote, rapper and activist Common took part in a roundtable discussion with SEIU union workers, which represents thousands of workers in the service industry.

They’re calling Saturday a statewide day of action where thousands of returning citizens are expected to early vote. In Orlando, we’re told hundreds of returning citizens will march through Parramore Saturday to the Amway Center to early vote. News 6 was there when Meade legally registered to vote last year after amendment 4 passed in Florida. “There are thousands upon thousands of returning citizens who are yearning for this opportunity, and they will not be denied and they’re going to show up,” Meade said. He said his organization has since paid off fines and fees for more than 40,000 returning citizens statewide so they can vote.

Meade said he’s inspired knowing that other returning citizens like him are getting their first chance to soon vote in a presidential election. “We as returning citizens we’ve been through a lot.”News 6 was there when Meade legally registered to vote in January of 2019. He said he’s encouraging returning citizens to vote early. He said there will be plenty of masks on hand for returning citizens and their families. With 27 days left until the general election, we’re asking state election leaders if returning citizens who are registered can still pay their fines and vote by election day.

Celebrities like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Ariana Grande have donated to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition’s Fines and Fees Fund, according to Executive Director Desmond Meade. He also said the need is there as returning citizens call their hotline for help to be able to vote in the 2020 General Election. “Overall, there are 1.4 million returning citizens that benefit from Amendment 4,” Meade said. Meade said the fines and fees owed vary depending on the case. Meade said it can be difficult for returning citizens to figure out what is owed, especially if they owe fines and fees in more than one county.

Desmond Meade: Voting is "sacred" The civil rights activist explains why fighting for Florida's Amendment 4 strengthened his respect for voting and why he brings "the spirit of my ancestors into that voting booth."

Amendment 4 advocate Desmond Meade denied full pardon Meade pushed to re-enfranchise more than a million Floridians convicted of felonies. The deferral of his pardon points to a clemency system that's been called "broken."

Ron DeSantis and the state clemency board on Wednesday declined to grant a full pardon to Meade. An influential civil rights activist, Meade spearheaded Florida's historic Amendment 4, which restores voting rights to felons who complete their sentences. Florida's Secretary of Agriculture Nikki Fried, a Democrat who sits on the clemency board, supported Meade's request for a full pardon. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle on Monday sent a letter to the clemency board to praise Meade's contributions to society. The board on Wednesday did restore civil rights to Neil Volz, who works with Meade as the deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

Desmond Meade: Florida disenfranchised more people than the population of over ten states and U.S. territories, and over 40 countries in the world. The amendment passed in 2018 with nearly 2/3 of the Florida vote. And so, out of nearly 1.5 million felons who regained the right to vote, 774,000 lost the right because of debt. Pastor Tyson sued Florida to get his right to vote back, after trying, in vain, to figure out how much he owed. But for now, even though Amendment 4 passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, most felons in Florida won't get to vote in November.

Amendment 4 to Florida's Constitution restored voting rights to as many as 1.4 million Floridians who had committed felonies. "Up until Amendment 4, approximately 10% of the voting age population was denied the franchise," he tells Stahl. According to the original amendment, felons could vote unless they were convicted of murder or felony sexual assault, and only after they completed "all terms of sentence including parole or probation." Tyson, a named plaintiff in a lawsuit against the State of Florida, says the law amounts to an unconstitutional tax. He says he has raised over $23 million so far, which he estimates will clear the path for over 20,000 felons to vote.

Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis called for investigations Wednesday into former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joining the effort to help Florida felons pay outstanding legal fees so they can register to vote in November. Before the money for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition was announced, Bloomberg reportedly was putting $100 million into Florida to help Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential effort. The coalition has collected more than $20 million for a “Fines and Fees” fund established in response to a state law and a recent court ruling requiring felons to pay “legal financial obligations” — fees, fines, costs and restitution — to be eligible to vote. Felons and their advocates are racing against an Oct. 5 deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election. Volz said Tuesday his organization already has spent $5 million to clear up the court-ordered debts of about 5,000 convicted felons.

click to enlarge Photo via Desmond Meade/TwitterSheena and Desmond Meade and familyAfter his bid for a pardon was blocked Wednesday, Florida felons’ voting-rights leader Desmond Meade said the decision made him even more committed to continuing his work.Meade, a former drug dealer who has garnered international accolades after leading the drive to pass a 2018 constitutional amendment to restore voting rights for felons, said he’s been waiting two decades to have his civil rights, which include the right to sit on juries and run for public office, restored.“If a person with my record would have to wait, what does that say for everyone else?” said Meade, who has been able to register to vote thanks to the constitutional amendment, known as Amendment 4. “So my resolve is strengthened.”Meade, who’s been clean and crime-free for more than a decade, appeared Wednesday before the state Board of Executive Clemency —- comprised of Gov. The 2019 law requiring felons to pay outstanding fines and fees could prevent hundreds of thousands of felons from registering to vote.Fried also was among the critics of the clemency board’s decision Wednesday in Meade’s case.She said the board has signed off on just 30 restoration-of-rights cases since DeSantis and the Cabinet members took office in 2019. There’s a backlog of 24,000 felons seeking rights restoration with or without hearings.DeSantis also has not acted on more than 800 applications in which Patronis and Fried have given a thumbs-up, Fried said.“If restoring and protecting Floridians’ constitutional rights were a priority for this governor, it would happen —- but it’s not, so it won’t. And that’s a damn shame,” she said.

DeSantis and Patronis on Wednesday blocked Meade’s request for a pardon, with DeSantis saying the panel should take the issue “under advisement” until it can gather more information. The state’s labyrinthine and years-long clemency process prompted Meade and other advocates to initiate the constitutional amendment, which enabled Meade to cast a ballot in last month’s primary elections. Meade said his focus is on getting his rights restored in Florida, as a pardon would restore rights such as being able to serve on juries and have firearms. Critics have condemned the state’s clemency process as a remnant of Jim Crow-era laws designed to keep Black people from voting. The number is a stark contrast to more than 155,000 felons who had their rights restored under an “automatic” process initiated by Scott’s predecessor, former Gov.

As of August, the clemency board had a backlog of more than 24,000 cases, according to Fried’s office.“It is very arbitrary. About 800 applications for restoration of rights without hearings, which have the support of Fried and Patronis are awaiting action by DeSantis, according to Fried’s office. No restoration of rights without a hearing have been granted thus far, her office said.In comparison, former Gov. The number is a stark contrast to more than 155,000 felons who had their rights restored under an “automatic” process initiated by Scott’s predecessor, former Gov. If that can’t allow you to serve on a jury in Florida, then there is something wrong and we should fix the system,” he said.

But Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, the amendment's main backer, puts the number at 100,000. Most Floridians apparently agreed: The measure garnered support from liberal and conservative groups and passed with 64% of the vote. Not all felons vote Democratic, of course, but some observers argued that the party would be the big winner since African Americans are disproportionately represented in Floridas felon population and they favor the party by wide margins. William Freeman recently registered to vote after serving three years for grand theft, his fourth prison stint. There is no way for officials to immediately check if felons owe money when they register, but they could face prosecution if they lie.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The conversation about criminal justice reform is both important and ongoing in our country right now. They are: Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, author Agnes Gomillion, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition president Desmond Meade and attorney Mark O’Mara. He’s known for his efforts to civically engage local communities and push for alterations to national criminal justice policies. Since then, he’s served as a legal analyst for CNN and spoken on topics including race, criminal justice reform, guns and self-defense. He founded Justice Outreach, a nonprofit designed to identify and fix problems in the criminal justice system.

The high court refused to weigh in on a federal appeals court decision blocking felons from voting before paying their court fees. He is among thousands who are barred from the ballot box because of outstanding court fees and fines. The Sanford business owner said he spent three years in prison and was accruing interest on his fine. 7066, a bill including a requirement that all felons pay their court fees and fines before the terms. The courts order could threaten the ability for felons to vote in the November general election.

TALLAHASSEE Elections experts, civil-rights leaders and potential voters spent the week excoriating a state law requiring felons to pay court-ordered "legal financial obligations" to be eligible to vote. Ron DeSantis administration turned to a man who garnered international acclaim for his advocacy of a 2018 constitutional amendment designed to restore felons voting rights. The 2018 constitutional amendment restored voting rights to felons "who have completed all terms of their sentence, including parole and probation." DeSantis administration insists that the state law faithfully carries out the language of the amendment. Meades January testimony is a brighter view of the state law than his immediate reaction to the measures passage on May 3, 2018, when he called the legislation "disheartening and disappointing."

click to enlarge Photo by Rob BartlettDesmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration CoalitionIn the quest to restore voting rights to the nearly 1.4 million Floridians with prior felony convictions, there is new hope that a class action designation will make that possible. Ron DeSantis to review a prior decision which blocked a state law requiring former felons to pay back all legal financial obligations before they vote. Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, said the ruling, like all of the other favorable rulings in the case, only applies to the 17 plaintiffs challenging the law. "Now that the judge is considering making this case a class action, then anything positive coming out of the courts would apply to more than just the 17 people," Meade said. A study by University of Florida political science chairman Dan Smith found the law would prevent more than 80 percent of those trying from having their rights restored.

click to enlarge Photo via Adobe Stockclick to enlarge Photo by Desmond Meade/TwitterDesmond Meade, a leader of the campaign for rights restoration, with activists in November 2019Siding with Gov. District Judge Robert Hinkle in October ruled that Florida cannot deny the right to vote to felons who have served their sentences but are genuinely unable to pay legal financial obligations. DeSantis administration has appealed that ruling.Thursdays Florida Supreme Court opinion siding with the governor, widely expected by court watchers, came as the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prepares to hear arguments Jan. 28 in the separate federal lawsuit.The state court rejected arguments by some proponents of the measure that all terms of sentence refers only to periods of confinement in jail or prison. I dissent to the majoritys position that the phrase all terms of sentence is unambiguous and that the voters would most likely understand it to include all LFOs without more.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition announced their new voter registration campaign called "We Got the Vote." Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week that requires felons who want to vote to repay everything they owe including restitution and court fees. Meade is the executive director of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to felons in Florida, passed last November. The organization is hoping to reach $3 million through the "We Got the Vote" campaign.

The historic effort to allow more than a million felons in Florida to vote hit a roadblock Friday when Gov. Voters in the state overwhelmingly passed an amendment in November that restored voting rights to those with felony records - as many as 1.5 million people. The result would have been the largest expansion of voting rights in the country in a half-century. DeSantis, who opposed the felon voting rights amendment, signed the legislation into law late in the day Friday, one day before his deadline to sign passed. They cannot legally affix a price tag to someone's right to vote," Julie Ebenstein, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said in a statement.