Felons Look to Ballot Measure to Have ‘Voice Heard’

853
SHARE

By DARA KAM
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

©2017 The News Service of Florida. All rights reserved. Posting or forwarding this material without permission is prohibited. You can view the Terms of Use on our website.

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 6, 2017……… For some, Desmond Meade is the epitome of convicted felons who’ve turned their lives around.

The onetime drug addict, who was homeless after being released from prison in 2004, has a law degree and devoted much of the past five years in helping others.

But Meade, 49, still suffers from a condition that keeps him, in his words, “from being whole again.”

He can’t vote.

Meade watched Monday as the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments on the “Voting Restoration Amendment,” a proposed constitutional amendment that would give voting rights to convicted felons like the Orlando resident.

Meade is the chairman of “Floridians for a Fair Democracy,” the political committee backing the ballot initiative, also endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.