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ACLU Dropping Big Money On Felon Rights Drive

Ex-felons demonstrate for automatic restoration of their civil rights in front of a Miami courthouse.
MSNBC
Ex-felons demonstrate for automatic restoration of their civil rights in front of a Miami courthouse.

The American Civil Liberties Union is vowing to plow $5 million into a felon  rights initiative now that organizers have cleared initial Florida Supreme Court review

Ex-felons demonstrate for automatic restoration of their civil rights in front of a Miami courthouse.
Credit MSNBC
Ex-felons demonstrate for automatic restoration of their civil rights in front of a Miami courthouse.

Justices ruled the amendment to restore felon voting rights after time served meets minimum legal requirements to appear on the 2018 ballot.

Florida League of Women Voters president Pamela Goodman says the amendment is necessary because lawmakers won’t listen. 

“This is the voice of the people. It is the only way the citizens of this state can raise an issue, gain support for an issue and get it on the ballot for voters.”

Goodman says her group spent at least  $5 million getting the fair districts amendment on the ballot, but that was seven years ago. Felon rights advocates acknowledge gathering 700,000 needed signatures by the February deadline will be an uphill battle.  

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Jim Ash is a reporter at WFSU-FM. A Miami native, he is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.