CrowdJustice Short Story: Restoring Voting Rights in Florida
An abridged account of a current CrowdJustice crowdfunding case:
“Getting my rights back will be a major accomplishment for my life and the life of my family. I immediately sought to have my rights restored in 2001. This turned into a process that took over a decade. After finally making it in front of Governor Scott, I was denied for minor traffic violations. As a business owner, homeowner, and active member in my community, receiving my right to vote back will not only be of great value to me but an obvious sign of someone who personifies change.” — Joseph Galasso
Florida is one of only four states that denies the right to vote to all former felons until they petition for rights restoration. 1.6 million Floridians are currently disenfranchised under this system — the highest state total in the nation.
In March, 2017, Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) filed a class action lawsuit seeking to automatically restore former felons’ voting rights and eliminate Florida’s “arbitrary” process for re-enfranchisement. The suit cites the lack of any rules governing the Executive Clemency Board’s decisions to grant or deny applications. Without rules, applicants are prone to arbitrary treatment, violating the 1st and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution, according to the lawsuit. The suit also challenges the lack of time limits for making decisions on restoration applications and the 5- and 7-year post-sentence waiting periods Governor Scott imposed.
The FELN team believes that giving government officials unfettered discretion leads to unequal treatment of people in very similar circumstances and that Florida’s “arbitrary” rights restoration process violates the US Constitution and hinders former felons like Joseph Galasso from truly reentering society.
Learn more about the fight to restore former felons’ voting rights in Florida.
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