Orlando group behind restoring felon voting rights nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
The Orlando organization that spearheaded the campaign to restore voting rights to felons in Florida has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“The Nobel Peace Prize is the highest recognition that any individual organization could receive in the world,” said Desmond Meade, executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, at a news conference in Orlando on Friday. “And we want to take advantage of this opportunity to really highlight the power of second chances — that even though people like me have made mistakes in the past, there’s still an opportunity for us to be contributing members of society.”
The FRRC was nominated by The American Friends Service Committee and Quaker Peace and Social Witness, the groups that successfully nominated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for the prize in 1964.
As former recipients of the 1947 Peace Prize themselves for their work helping children in Europe after the world wars, the two Quaker groups have the privilege of making nominations.
“We are nominating FRRC for their work in building democracy, supporting the human right to representation by government, and working towards a better organized and peaceful world,” the American Friends Service Committee said in a statement.
The FRRC and others pushed constitutional Amendment 4, which was approved by Florida voters in 2018 with nearly 65% of the vote. It restored voting rights to more than 1.4 million non-violent felons in Florida.
Restrictions passed into law by the Legislature required felons to pay off all fines, fees and restitution before being able to register, leading the FRRC to raise $30 million to help 40,000 people across Florida regain their eligibility.
“Those of us who have been impacted by the system, our loved ones, people who have been walking with us, who signed petitions so that we could vote — there was a whole lot of folks out there who I think are going to be seen because of this nomination,” said FRRC Deputy Director Neil Volz.
Meade became addicted to cocaine while serving in the U.S. military, leading to drug and firearm charges in 2001 before he turned his life around and earned a law degree. He voted for the first time in decades in 2019 and had his full civil rights restored by the state clemency board in 2021.
That same year, Meade won a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant, one of the highest honors recognizing an individual’s contribution to society, because of his work with the organization.
That recognition came with a $625,000 no-strings-attached prize — money that Meade said would help fuel his work and pay off student loans from law school.
Meade said all the accolades, including being named Central Floridian of the Year by the Orlando Sentinel, Citizen of the Year by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida, and appearing on Time magazine’s Time 100, were acknowledgments that the FRRC needs to continue in its mission.
“That’s saying, ‘Hey, FRRC, in spite of the obstacles that you’re facing, you got it right,’” Meade said. “And you’re doing it in a way that’s bringing people together, and not in a way that’s tearing this nation apart.’”
The last American winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was President Obama in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Former Vice President Al Gore and former President Jimmy Carter were also recipients of the award.
The last U.S.-based organization to be awarded the Peace Prize was the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1985.
The Peace Prize and other Nobel awards are scheduled to be announced in October. Winners receive about $1 million.
