On January 15, 2022, Miami Associate Carolina Piñero hosted the Returning Citizens Clinic on behalf of the Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers, providing pro bono services to help returning citizens convicted of felonies restore their right to vote pursuant to Florida’s Constitutional Amendment 4. Carolina had spent most of 2021 planning this clinic, and she finally saw it come to fruition just in time for Martin Luther King weekend.
This pro bono effort began on January 13, 2022 with the Miami-Dade Public Defenders leading a training to educate attorneys on the legal process for restoring voting rights in preparation for the pro bono clinic.
The following Saturday, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC)—a statewide organization “committed to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination against people with convictions”—led the virtual clinic. The FRRC provided expertise and guided attorneys in the three-hour pro bono effort. Attorneys conducted the research necessary on individual case files to assist those seeking rights restoration to begin the process and determine whether they qualify to have their voting rights restored in court.
Amendment 4, passed by Florida voters in 2018, provided restoration of the right to vote for people disqualified from voting due to felony conviction upon completion of their sentences. However, restoration of the right to vote under Amendment 4 and its implementing statute and subsequent case law requires adjudication by a court in virtually all cases, therefore creating an enormous need for the services of pro bono attorneys. Florida has the highest rate of residents disqualified from voting due to prior felony conviction after completion of their sentences, with an estimated 1.4 million Florida citizens affected by the law. Prior to the passage of Amendment 4, Florida was one of only four states with a lifetime ban on voting for returning citizens, the others being Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia.
Thirty attorneys attended the in-depth training with the Public Defenders, and twenty attorneys provided their pro bono services during the clinic, providing a total of more than 60 pro bono hours, and assisting more than 25 returning citizens. Miami Law Clerk Odette Ponce of Bowman and Brooke was one of the volunteers. Participating attorneys expressed gratitude for learning about the rights restoration process and the need for legal services in this area, as well as interest in continuing to dedicate time for rights restoration cases.
Carolina hopes to host another Returning Citizens Clinic in the Spring.