Eastern Standard - May 2nd, 2024

The focus of Episode 4 of Democracy Optimist, an Eastern Standard special election year series: 4.6 million Americans have lost their right to vote because of a felony conviction due to a policy known as felon disenfranchisement. The policy has a disproportionate impact on people of color given our criminal legal system.

Our guests for this episode are Debra Graner who had been convicted of a felony in Kentucky and recently regained her voting rights, as well as Claire Sandberg, the law student who helped Graner through the process to have her criminal conviction expunged. We’re also joined by Desmond Meade, founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Clinic, formed to re-enfranchise 1.4 million returning citizens in the Sunshine State.