Across the nation, criminal disenfranchisement laws deny over 6 million Americans a say in our democracy. More than 4.7 million of these citizens have left prison and are in their communities — working, raising families, and paying taxes. Each state has different rules governing who can or cannot vote. But no state disenfranchises more of its citizens than Florida. The state imposes what for all practical purposes is a lifetime voting ban for people with past felony convictions. People of color bear the brunt of the practice.

In 2011, a former felon, Desmond Meade, founded the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in an attempt to overturn the constitutional amendment that decrees the civil death of so many returning citizens in Florida. The work of this non-partisan, multi-racial coalition represents a new civil rights movement.