{"product_id":"just-freedom-inside-floridas-decades-long-voting-rights-battle-paperback","title":"Just Freedom: Inside Florida's Decades-Long Voting Rights Battle - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDaniel Rivero\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of an extraordinary expansion of voting rights and the obstacles holding back its implementation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFlorida Book Awards, Gold Medal for Florida Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Florida citizens voted in 2018 to pass Amendment 4 to the state constitution, which promised to restore voting rights to people with past felony convictions, the decision was celebrated as a civil rights victory and the nation's largest expansion of voting rights in almost 50 years. In \u003ci\u003eJust Freedom\u003c\/i\u003e, Daniel Rivero details the advocacy and action that led to this moment--and shows what went wrong in the years after the amendment's passing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story begins in the Reconstruction era with Florida's 1868 lifetime voting ban for people with past felony convictions. The infamous 2000 Bush\/Gore election brought the ban to national attention, sparking a wave of activism against it. Rivero follows the 18-year path to Amendment 4 through the grassroots work of people including Howard Simon of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and Desmond Meade, a formerly incarcerated man and president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA journalist who has covered this story for many years, Rivero uses court documents, meeting transcripts, archival videos, interviews, and eyewitness courtroom scenes and street marches to peel back the layers and reveal the motives that supported and opposed this human rights initiative. He shows how political polarization, implementation challenges, and monetary interests have stalled the amendment from becoming fully realized to this day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt once a contemporary legal tale and a series of interwoven stories of people at the center of the fight, this is the account of how 1.4 million Floridians gained the right to vote--and the obstacles still preventing them from doing so. \u003ci\u003eJust Freedom\u003c\/i\u003e will raise questions and provoke conversations about the lasting hold of Jim Crow-era policies, the power of money, and the nature of the American criminal justice system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 216\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 8.6 x 5.8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 07, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51888756359456,"sku":"9780813081168","price":30.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/dCVfDVZ_EJ9780813081168.webp?v=1781921730","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/just-freedom-inside-floridas-decades-long-voting-rights-battle-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}