Redemption Project

Have you had your civil rights restored?

Since April 2007, more than 250,000 ex-offenders in Florida have had their rights restored and are eligible to vote. To see if your civil rights have been restored and to register to vote, please click here.
 

Removal of Obstacles to Employment

The Public Defender's Redemption Project is a volunteer effort to improve the ability of former clients to obtain employment and become better integrated into society, both politically and economically.

Public Defender Bennett H. Brummer created the Redemption Project in 1998, in collaboration with community organizations and other government agencies. Workshops are held at community centers by co-sponsoring organizations and officials who assist former clients in sealing their records or having their voting rights restored in accordance with Florida law.

Since 1998, volunteers from the Public Defender's Office and community groups have assisted more than 2,500 people across Miami-Dade County, through our Redemption workshops.

In addition to employers being reluctant to hire persons with criminal records, a criminal conviction can legally prevent a person from voting and from obtaining certain state licenses to work. To see the consequences of an arrest or conviction, please click here.

In partnership with the State Attorney's Office and the Clerk's Office, the Public Defender's Office helps process requests for sealing and expunging criminal records. For frequently asked questions about Sealing and Expunging Criminal History Records in Florida, please click here.

Through Redemption Project workshops, organizations voluntarily assist former felons apply to the Florida Clemency Board to have their civil rights reinstated. Volunteers from the Public Defender's Office work with the following Clemency Petition Partners: ACLU of Florida, Brothers of the Same Mind, Dade County Bar Association, Haitian Lawyers Association, League of Women Voters of Dade County, Miami-Dade NAACP, Nova Southeastern University Black Law Students Association & University of Miami Black Law Students Association and Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association.  For frequently asked questions on Clemency, click here.

Public Defender Bennett H. Brummer supports efforts to place the issue of the restoration of voting rights before Florida voters. Public Defender Office staff, on their own time, have helped collect thousands of petitions in support of a constitutional amendment to restore the right to vote to felons who have successfully completed their sentences.
 

Successful Re-Entry for Ex-Offenders

Excerpt from the Governor's Ex-Offender Taskforce Website:

There is hereby created the Governor's Ex-Offender Task Force formed to help improve the effectiveness of the State of Florida in facilitating the re-entry of ex-offenders into their communities so as to reduce the incidence of recidivism.

For additional information about the Governor's  Ex-Offender Taskforce, click here