Tomorrow is the second annual Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Day of Action. We have planned events all across the state in Melbourne, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Pensacola, Tallahassee and Tampa, and we hope you are able to join us!

In advance of our Day of Action events, today we released a scathing report criticizing the overly bureaucratic Florida rights restoration process that continues to disfranchise hundreds of thousands of Florida citizens. The report, the first since the April 2007 clemency rules changes, includes the results of a survey of employees in all 67 Supervisors of Elections offices. It shows that the current civil rights restoration process lacks clarity and uniformity, and is excessively burdensome for Floridians who are trying to regain their right to vote and other civil rights, and continues to block eligibility for dozens of state occupational licenses.

We are banding together in cities throughout Florida to demand a truly automatic civil rights restoration process, which the governor has promised but not yet delivered to the nearly one million people in Florida who continue to be denied the right to vote. Last year, hundreds of ACLU and Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) members descended on Tallahassee to bring this simple but important message to the clemency board: We Count Too!

View some of those photos online>>

Our hope is that we can recharge our grassroots efforts to conduct rights restoration workshops and perform other outreach to help bring change to Florida's still-broken clemency system.

Below is a list of the events we are putting together and the local contact so that you can get involved. We will also keep event information updated at http://www.restorerights.org/

MELBOURNE - We will be visiting each of the Brevard legislators' offices followed by a press conference and rally. For more information contact: Kevin Aplin, Brevard office, (321) 768-6262 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

MIAMI - We will host a viewing of the BET special, "LOCKED OUT: Ex-Cons & the Vote" examining the national felon disfranchisement crisis, which aired last August followed by a community forum on civil rights restoration. For more information contact: La Rhonda Odom, Miami headquarters, (786) 363-2718 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NAPLES - The FRRC will host a screening of "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote," a BET Special examining the national felon disfranchisement crisis. Golden Gate Community Center, 4701 Golden Gate Parkway, 7-9 p.m. For more information contact: Laurel Paster, (239) 495-6930 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ORLANDO - We are hosting a press event to announce a calendar of events including rights restoration workshops, rights restoration assistance and trainings, and increased work in the Orlando area with impacted people. For more information contact: Matt De Vlieger, Orlando regional office, (407) 340-3550 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

PENSACOLA - We will be visiting legislators' offices and asking for rights restoration reform support. For more information contact: Susan Watson, Northwest regional office, (850) 429-9128 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TALLAHASSEE - We will attend the Board of Executive Clemency Meeting the morning of March 12, followed by a press event at 11:30 a.m. at the Florida Press Association located at 336 E. College Ave., Tallahassee, FL. The Board of Executive Clemency meeting is located at the Capitol Complex in the Cabinet Meeting Room and it begins at 9:00 a.m. For more information contact: La Rhonda Odom, Miami headquarters, (786) 363-2718 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TAMPA - Join us for a dramatic showing of the BET special, "LOCKED OUT: Ex-Cons & the Vote," on March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the University Area Community Center 14013 N. 22nd Street, Tampa, Florida 33613. Immediately following we will have a lively panel discussion of this "special" and the lingering Reconstruction-era rights restoration process in Florida. Lawyers will be on hand to help people apply for rights restoration during the evening's event. FRRC members co-hosting the event include the ACLU of Florida, Hillsborough NAACP, and the Hillsborough League of Women Voters. For more information contact Becky Steele, (813) 254-3320 or visit http://www.restorerights.org/

Florida's civil rights restoration process remains a lengthy and cumbersome process for too many people with past felony convictions. Many people who are eligible and have completed applications are still waiting to have their rights restored by the Office of Executive Clemency, in some cases for two to three years. Although the changes to the Clemency Rules in 2007 were intended to make the process easier for some, the fact is that the process is overly burdensome to personnel and monetary resources are limited, which translates into a lengthy restoration process.

We hope to see you at one of these exciting events and will keep you updated through our Web site: http://www.restorerights.org/

Thank you for your continued support of the ACLU of Florida and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.