Age, Biography and Wiki

Desmond Meade was born on 22 July, 1967 in United States, is an American voting rights activist. Discover Desmond Meade's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 56 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation Executive Director, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition
Age 56 years old
Zodiac Sign Cancer
Born 22 July 1967
Birthday 22 July
Birthplace N/A
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 22 July. He is a member of famous Executive with the age 56 years old group.

Desmond Meade Height, Weight & Measurements

At 56 years old, Desmond Meade height not available right now. We will update Desmond Meade's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
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Who Is Desmond Meade's Wife?

His wife is Sheena Meade

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Sheena Meade
Sibling Not Available
Children Xandre, Xavier, Xzion, Xcellence, Nathan

Desmond Meade Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Desmond Meade worth at the age of 56 years old? Desmond Meade’s income source is mostly from being a successful Executive. He is from United States. We have estimated Desmond Meade's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Executive

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Timeline

1967

Desmond Meade (born July 22, 1967) is a voting rights activist and Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

1985

He graduated from high school in 1985, then joined the Army as a helicopter mechanic.

While in the Army, he began using cocaine, a habit that escalated over the years.

1990

In 1990, he faced an Army court martial for stealing from the base; after a three year sentence, he was given a dishonorable discharge.

In civilian life, Meade's drug problem continued.

He served time in jail for felony drug possession, and after a fight with his brother was convicted of aggravated battery, also a felony.

DeSantis, who as governor has veto power over pardons or restorations of civil rights, cited Meade's 1990 dishonorable discharge from the Army as a reason to withhold clemency, saying that Meade could reapply if he cleared up questions about it.

Meade reapplied and was again rejected by DeSantis in March, 2021, who again cited his 1990 military court martial, saying "As a former military officer, a dishonorable discharge is the highest punishment that a court martial may render. I consider it very serious."

2001

In 2001, he was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

2004

(According to Meade, the gun was in the cupboard of the house where he was staying, and belonged to the owner of the house, not to him, but police gave evidence that they found Meade holding the gun in his hand. ) In 2004, however, an appeals court reversed his conviction and he was released.

2005

In 2005, after having considered suicide, Meade checked himself into a drug treatment program and began to rebuild his life.

2009

In 2009, Meade became the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), a group aimed at restoring civil rights to felons in Florida who had completed their sentences and probation.

Meade described his goal as politically non-partisan, and worked closely with Republicans including former GOP lobbyist Neil Volz, who had spent time in prison in connection with Jack Abramoff.

2010

He enrolled in Miami-Dade College while living in a homeless shelter, graduating in 2010 with the school's highest honors.

2013

Meade then enrolled in Florida International University College of Law, the only public law school in south Florida, graduating in 2013.

Meade, who had done volunteer work for rights restoration during his years at Miami Dade, joined the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition while he was in law school.

Although Meade graduated from law school in 2013, Florida law prevents him (or anyone with a past felony conviction) from being admitted to the Florida Bar.

Amendment 4 restored voting rights, but not other civil rights, such as the right to run for office or to sit for Florida's bar examination (required for practicing law in Florida.)

Meade sought to regain his civil rights, appealing to Florida's clemency board and also asking for a pardon.

The clemency process in Florida was made more restrictive by former Florida Governor Rick Scott, according to CBS News, so that the board "has discretion to deny clemency for any reason, mandates that applicants wait at least five years before starting the process, and are given just five minutes to speak in a hearing."

2015

Starting in 2015, Meade led Floridians for Fair Democracy in a drive to qualify the "Voting Restoration Amendment" as a ballot initiative for the 2018 Florida elections, collecting 799,000 signatures.

2018

As chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, Meade led the successful effort to pass Florida Amendment 4, a 2018 state initiative that restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with previous felony convictions.

Florida as of 2018 was one of only three US states to deny voting rights to anyone with a felony record.

Because felon disenfranchisement is part of Florida's Constitution, which requires a 60% vote to modify, many efforts to restore voting rights to former convicts had been unsuccessful.

The initiative was approved in January 2018 for the November ballot.

Ultimately, the amendment passed, as Florida Amendment 4, with 64.55% of the vote.

2019

In April 2019, Time magazine named Meade as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

On January 8, 2019, an estimated 1.4 million ex-felons became eligible to vote.

Republican lawmakers in Florida responded to Amendment 4 by passing a new law (SB 7066), disqualifying from voting any felons who had unpaid fines or legal judgments against them.

As a result, more than half of the 1.4 million felon voters were again disqualified.

2020

Meade's autobiography Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens was published in 2020; in 2021 he was awarded a MacArthur "Genius Grant."

According to The New York Times, Meade "was born in St. Croix and moved to Miami with his parents when he was 5. His mother worked as a waitress, and his father was a mechanic."

On appeal, the new law was overturned in May, 2020, by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, who ruled that the 24th Amendment prohibits Florida from conditioning voting on payment of fines and fees.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appealed Hinkle's injunction to the 11th Circuit Court, which, in September, 2020, overturned the injunction by a 6-4 margin, with the majority holding that "requirement that felons pay all financial obligations before voting does not violate their due process rights or impose a poll tax."

According to the MacArthur Foundation, the FRRC (of which Meade is executive director) "is helping people find the information they need to meet the requirements [of SB 7066] .. and providing financial assistance to meet outstanding financial obligations. Meade and FRRC are also working on a series of criminal justice reform initiatives, including bail reform and re-entry programs, and finding ways to open access to housing and employment opportunities for returning citizens. " The FRRC raised $28M for people with past felony convictions in Florida who needed to pay fines and fees before they could vote; the obligations of over 44,000 returning citizens were paid before the November 2020 election.

At a clemency board hearing on September 23, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis denied Meade the pardon he would need to regain these civil rights.

He also stated that Meade was not eligible to have his civil rights restored because he had applied for a pardon.

Florida Secretary of Agriculture Nikki Fried, the only Democrat on the clemency board, and the only board member who voted to restore Meade's civil rights, said that, during the two years of DeSantis's governorship, the board had approved only 30 requests from thousands of applications and called the Florida clemency system "broken."

Meade's autobiography Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens was published in 2020 by Beacon Press.

NPR called it "a compelling story."