Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
2018 Florida Amendment 4
Florida Amendment 4, also the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, is an amendment to the constitution of the U.S. state of Florida passed by ballot initiative on November 6, 2018, as part of the 2018 Florida elections. The proposition restored the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation.[excessive citations] The amendment does not apply to Floridians convicted of murder or sexual offenses.
The campaign was sponsored by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and had support from the American Civil Liberties Union, Christian Coalition of America, and Freedom Partners. Among politicians who took a side on the amendment, several Democrats supported the measure, while some Republicans opposed it. Amendment 4 passed with 64.55% of voters in favor. In January 2019, an estimated 1.4 million ex-felons became eligible to vote. However, a series of court rulings culminating in a September 2020 11th Circuit appeals court decision restricted re-enfranchisement to only those who had paid off their fines.
In 2016, 6.1 million adults in the United States could not vote due to felony disenfranchisement laws. Prior to 2018, Florida was one of four U.S. states that enacted permanent felony disenfranchisement, affecting 1.7 million felons. The other three states were Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Felons were required to wait five to seven years after the completion of their sentence before they could apply to have their voting rights restored by the State Board of Executive Clemency, which is composed of the Governor of Florida and the Florida Cabinet, and meets four times per year at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida's disenfranchised felons constituted 10% of the adult population, and 21.5% of the adult African American population.
As Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist reformed the process for the reinstatement of voting rights in 2007, allowing non-violent offenders to have their voting rights automatically restored. Over 155,000 applications for voting right restoration were approved during Crist's four-year term. Shortly after succeeding Crist as governor, Rick Scott, with the advice of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, ended the automatic restoration for felons convicted of non-violent crimes in the state and instituted a mandatory five-year wait period before felons could apply to the State Board of Executive Clemency for restoration of voting rights. During the first seven years of Scott's tenure, 3,000 applications were approved.
Seven former felons filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida in March 2017. The plaintiffs in the case, Hand v. Scott, alleged the process is unconstitutional due to its arbitrary nature. In April 2018, U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker ruled that Florida's process for seeking restoration of voting rights in Florida was unconstitutional because it relied too much on personal appeal to Governor Scott. The state appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which stayed Walker's ruling pending appeal. An analysis conducted by The Palm Beach Post demonstrated that Scott discriminated against African Americans in re-enfranchisement hearings and favored Republicans.
Desmond Meade, who was convicted of a felony and earned a law degree after his release, became involved in voting rights after his wife ran for the Florida Legislature and he could not vote for her. He became the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in 2009. He led a drive to qualify Amendment 4 as a ballot initiative for the 2018 Florida elections, collecting 799,000 signatures. The initiative was approved in January 2018 for the November ballot. The amendment required 60% of the vote to take effect.
Demetrius Jifunza became an outspoken advocate for Amendment 4 and involved in voting rights after his voting rights were stripped in 1995 due to a felony conviction. He went on to become a paralegal. Jifunza founded the Sarasota Chapter of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and is the Vice President, Sarasota, Florida Chapter NAACP and led the successful media campaign to help pass Amendment 4.
The FRRC partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Christian Coalition of America during the campaign. Freedom Partners, a nonprofit group funded in part by the Koch brothers, also supported the amendment. Some Democratic Party politicians, including Crist, Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Al Lawson, and Alan Williams supported Amendment 4, while some Republican politicians, including Ron DeSantis, Adam Putnam, and Richard Corcoran, opposed it.
Hub AI
2018 Florida Amendment 4 AI simulator
(@2018 Florida Amendment 4_simulator)
2018 Florida Amendment 4
Florida Amendment 4, also the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, is an amendment to the constitution of the U.S. state of Florida passed by ballot initiative on November 6, 2018, as part of the 2018 Florida elections. The proposition restored the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation.[excessive citations] The amendment does not apply to Floridians convicted of murder or sexual offenses.
The campaign was sponsored by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and had support from the American Civil Liberties Union, Christian Coalition of America, and Freedom Partners. Among politicians who took a side on the amendment, several Democrats supported the measure, while some Republicans opposed it. Amendment 4 passed with 64.55% of voters in favor. In January 2019, an estimated 1.4 million ex-felons became eligible to vote. However, a series of court rulings culminating in a September 2020 11th Circuit appeals court decision restricted re-enfranchisement to only those who had paid off their fines.
In 2016, 6.1 million adults in the United States could not vote due to felony disenfranchisement laws. Prior to 2018, Florida was one of four U.S. states that enacted permanent felony disenfranchisement, affecting 1.7 million felons. The other three states were Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Felons were required to wait five to seven years after the completion of their sentence before they could apply to have their voting rights restored by the State Board of Executive Clemency, which is composed of the Governor of Florida and the Florida Cabinet, and meets four times per year at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida's disenfranchised felons constituted 10% of the adult population, and 21.5% of the adult African American population.
As Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist reformed the process for the reinstatement of voting rights in 2007, allowing non-violent offenders to have their voting rights automatically restored. Over 155,000 applications for voting right restoration were approved during Crist's four-year term. Shortly after succeeding Crist as governor, Rick Scott, with the advice of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, ended the automatic restoration for felons convicted of non-violent crimes in the state and instituted a mandatory five-year wait period before felons could apply to the State Board of Executive Clemency for restoration of voting rights. During the first seven years of Scott's tenure, 3,000 applications were approved.
Seven former felons filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida in March 2017. The plaintiffs in the case, Hand v. Scott, alleged the process is unconstitutional due to its arbitrary nature. In April 2018, U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker ruled that Florida's process for seeking restoration of voting rights in Florida was unconstitutional because it relied too much on personal appeal to Governor Scott. The state appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which stayed Walker's ruling pending appeal. An analysis conducted by The Palm Beach Post demonstrated that Scott discriminated against African Americans in re-enfranchisement hearings and favored Republicans.
Desmond Meade, who was convicted of a felony and earned a law degree after his release, became involved in voting rights after his wife ran for the Florida Legislature and he could not vote for her. He became the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in 2009. He led a drive to qualify Amendment 4 as a ballot initiative for the 2018 Florida elections, collecting 799,000 signatures. The initiative was approved in January 2018 for the November ballot. The amendment required 60% of the vote to take effect.
Demetrius Jifunza became an outspoken advocate for Amendment 4 and involved in voting rights after his voting rights were stripped in 1995 due to a felony conviction. He went on to become a paralegal. Jifunza founded the Sarasota Chapter of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and is the Vice President, Sarasota, Florida Chapter NAACP and led the successful media campaign to help pass Amendment 4.
The FRRC partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Christian Coalition of America during the campaign. Freedom Partners, a nonprofit group funded in part by the Koch brothers, also supported the amendment. Some Democratic Party politicians, including Crist, Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Al Lawson, and Alan Williams supported Amendment 4, while some Republican politicians, including Ron DeSantis, Adam Putnam, and Richard Corcoran, opposed it.