NPR for Florida's Great Northwest

Florida felon voting activist Desmond Meade gets his civil rights back

Desmond Meade announced in a Twitter video that he can now run for office, serve on a jury and even take the bar exam to become a lawyer.
Desmond Meade

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 the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition who had spent time in prison on convictions including drug possession and illegally possessing a firearm.

He announced in a Twitter video Saturday that he can now run for office, serve on a jury and even take the bar exam to become a lawyer.

Meade led the successful 2018 effort to enact Amendment 4, a voter-approved constitutional amendment restoring felon voting rights after their sentences are complete.

The Republican-led Legislature later required all financial obligations such as fines to also be completed.

Critics said this primarily disenfranchises minorities and poor people.

Copyright 2021 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7. To see more, visit WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.