Having been secure in housing for almost 20 years, I began to see what areas in my life still needed to be ironed out. Got the home, got the job, got the self esteem back but one thing still remained outstanding: the privilege and right to vote!
An incident of poor judgment on my part back in 1993 caused me to lose my voting rights, the right to posses and carry a firearm, and the ability to be fully restored to full participation in citizenship. I had heard from several sources that the state of Tennessee had made it very difficult to start and complete this process. I saw a flyer on one of my co-workers office walls at Room In The Inn, so I scanned the QR code and entered all my personal information as required on the form provided.
Within a few weeks I was put in touch with Free Hearts here in Nashville and the process was started by one of their dedicated and diligent attorneys. First, we got the court costs paid and credited to my case number from way back in 1993.
Then, a petition was filed in Division IV Criminal Court to have the restitution waived as no one had laid claim in civil court to recover the restitution from me. The judge rule to waive the restitution, and the most intimidating steps were thus completed, thanks to the help from Free Hearts.
A petition has been filed to have my rights restored in court. After a 30 day waiting period, I hope to be voting again and enjoying all the rights of citizenship.
I want to tell everyone out there who is trying to accomplish this process: don’t give up! If I can get a 32 year old case taken care of, that should give others hope to pursue the same process.
See you in the voting booth.