Enfranchised!

By Fernando Bermudez


 


Photo: Fernando Bermudez outside his polling place.


 

For some political pessimists, voting may seem like thankless labor. For me, regaining my civil right to vote after over 18 years in prison as an innocent man fills me with gratitude. I was wrongfully convicted by the State of New York in 1992 and exonerated in 2009. This month marks my third year of freedom.

 

I felt the power of democracy when, after casting the first ballot of my life, my youngest child asked me, “Daddy, when may we vote?” I hope, by doing my civic duty, to leave her with a better criminal justice system than the one I experienced. Our family knows all too well the harm that factually innocent people suffer in prison. I advocate for criminal justice reform in New York State because I believe that public policy can help prevent wrongful convictions. Extra awareness of this public safety and human rights issue can influence votes and encourage politicians that criminal justice reform is important to their constituents. Preventing wrongful convictions, I think, cuts well across political and party lines.

 

I am already eager to hit the polls again.

 

Read another recent blog by Fernando Bermudez

here

.

 

Fernando Bermudez will speak about his experience of wrongful conviction at City College on November 14. Find more information about that event

here

.