Miami Herald: Attorney General Pam Bondi had nothing to say to the Florida Supreme Court Monday, and for people working to restore the right to vote to convicted felons, that was welcome news. The court must decide whether a ballot … Continue reading
Category Archives: felon voting
If the Florida Supreme Court allows this measure to go on the ballot, it would be a huge deal in Florida. WSJ: Mr. Meade plans to be in the courtroom Monday when the Florida Supreme Court reviews a proposed constitutional … Continue reading
New ACS Issue Brief by Avner Shapiro. … Continue reading
The case is Thompson v. Alabama and the brief is here. Keep your eye on this suit. … Continue reading
Release: Florida’s lifetime ban on voting for people with past felony convictions is one of the harshest laws in the nation and its severe moral, racial, and economic consequences demand it be replaced, according to a new report released today … Continue reading
News and Observer: Larry Smith got an odd phone call last week: Someone had filed to throw out his vote, claiming he was a felon serving an active sentence. Smith, who lives in Stokes County, is no felon. But he … Continue reading
Murat Mungan has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Disenfranchisement laws in many states prohibit convicted felons from voting. The removal of ex-convicts from the pool of eligible voters reduces the pressure politicians may otherwise face to … Continue reading
Must-read on Florida’s long path to restoration of voting rights for felons who have turned their lives around. More than 10,000 applications wait to be heard by the Florida Board of Executive Clemency. The backlog seems by design. The board, … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
Release: The Campaign Legal Center, the Voting Rights Institute, and the law firm of Jenner & Block, alongside a star-studded team of civil rights lawyers, today filed a lawsuit in Alabama district court on behalf of U.S. citizens with past … Continue reading
You can find the unanimous 1st Circuit opinion at this link. Here is a statement from Demos. From the opinion: It is true that Evenwel did not decide the precise question before us. Nevertheless, we hold that its methodology and logic compel us … Continue reading
Think Progress: The Virginia Supreme Court rejected a petition from Republican leaders on Thursday that sought to hold Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in contemptfor restoring the voting rights of tens of thousands of ex-offenders ahead of the 2016 election. … Continue reading
Washington Post editorial: In just four states are felons permanently barred from voting absent action by the governor. And in one of them, Virginia, lawmakers are considering an even more restrictive regime that would forever foreclose the possibility of redemption … Continue reading
WaPo: A Republican state senator who sued Gov. Terry McAuliffe over the governor’s efforts to restore voting rights to felons filed legislation Thursday to automatically grant political rights to certain nonviolent criminals. Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Dispatch: GOP leaders announced Wednesday that they want the Supreme Court of Virginia to consider holding McAuliffe in contempt for his efforts to restore felons’ political rights en masse despite the court’s July 22 opinion that struck down the … Continue reading
Zack Roth for NBC News. … Continue reading
AP: At noon Monday, it said, he will appear at the Civil Rights Memorial on Capitol Square “to make major restoration of rights announcement.” A McAuliffe spokeswoman, Christina Nuckols, declined to provide more information. McAuliffe will announce that he has … Continue reading
WaPo: Armed with an autopen, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said two weeks ago that he had all he needed to swiftly but individually restore voting rights to more than 200,000 felons. But McAuliffe (D) has since decided that he needs something … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Disptach: In response, McAuliffe said he will “expeditiously” sign roughly 13,000 individual rights restoration orders for people who have already registered to vote. He said he’ll continue until rights are restored for all 200,000 people affected by the original … Continue reading
You can find the 63 pages of opinions here. This is a big blow both politically to Democrats (who would have gotten a boost from the restoration of voting rights to felons who had secured their sentences) as well as … Continue reading
Dale Ho NYT oped: THE Virginia Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in a lawsuit that aims to strip the right to vote from more than 206,000 people, including one in five African-American adults in the state. If state … Continue reading
WaPo: It was not clear which way the seven justices would rule. Much of the arguments were spent focused on whether the GOP legislative leaders and voters could even challenge the restoration of voter rights in court. … Continue reading
Think Progress: But Virginia Republicans are taking the state to court on July 19 to try to roll back these changes, and restore the Reformation-era felon disenfranchisement law. The conservative officials are arguing not only that the governor’s order violates … Continue reading
NYT editorial: Voting rights advocates have been pressing the Census Bureau for more than a decade to stop counting prison inmates as “residents” of prisons — where they typically remain for only a short time — instead of the communities … Continue reading
Nola.com and Buzzfeed report on the state constitutional class action, which allegedly affects 70,000 people … Continue reading
Des Moines Register reports. The 4-3 state constitutional decision is here. … Continue reading
Goldfeder and Perez offer their view in NYLJ. … Continue reading
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on what documents from its state FOIA request reveal about the lead-up to Governor McAuliffe’s restoration of felons’ voting rights. … Continue reading
Corey Brettschneider for Politico magazine. o some, the idea may seem risky, unnecessary or even unconscionable. But in fact, there are good reasons to embrace it. For one, our constitutional ideals support the right of prisoners to vote, and denying … Continue reading
Lincoln Journal-Star: Only about half of Nebraska’s 93 counties accurately provide voting rights for ex-felons, according to a survey by the ACLU of Nebraska. Nearly half of the county election officials contacted by ACLU researchers provided inaccurate information related to … Continue reading
Release. … Continue reading
Hearing on July 19. … Continue reading
NYT: This next fight over restoring voting rights to convicted felons — an issue playing out nationally — could affect the presidential contest and Mrs. Clinton’s fortunes in Virginia, a critical swing state. Ever since Mr. McAuliffe’s order on April … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Dispatch: The Supreme Court of Virginia will hold a special session July 19 to take up the Republican challenge to Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s order that restored voting rights for more than 200,000 felons. Republican leaders in the General Assembly … Continue reading
Derek the Muller: A federal district court handed down a memorandum and order for summary judgment in Davidson v. City of Cranston, a case concerning “prison gerrymandering” in Rhode Island. The court concluded that the city improperly drew districts that … Continue reading
District court opinion. Update: See this press release from Prisoners of the Census. … Continue reading
Andrew Cohen for the Marshall Project: Those who object to the restoration of these voting rights, Howard told us, are conflating Gov. McAuliffe’s duty to individually communicate his reasons for a pardon with his more expansive authority to restore voting … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly will file suit later today in the Supreme Court of Virginia challenging Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s authority to order a mass restoration of rights April 22, covering more than 200,000 former felons. The … Continue reading
That’s the lead story in this week’s Electionline Weekly. … Continue reading
NYT editorial: Republican legislators in Virginia are threatening to sue Gov. Terry McAuliffe to block his executive order restoring voting rights to more than 200,000 residents who have completed their felony sentences. The lawmakers have no good legal case, and … Continue reading
NYT: Carl W. Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said he believed Mr. McAuliffe had the constitutional authority to restore the felons’ voting rights, but a lawsuit could impede voter registration ahead of the … Continue reading
WaPo: Virginia Republicans have hired a high-powered Washington lawyer to challenge Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s authority to give more than 200,000 ex-convicts the right to vote in the fall presidential election and beyond. GOP legislative leaders announced Monday that they have … Continue reading
NYT Room for Debate. … Continue reading
Nate Cohn for NYT’s the UpShot. … Continue reading
Zack Roth for MSNBC: In February, prodded by a grassroots campaign by Communities United and other voting rights and civil rights groups, Maryland restored voting rights to people with felony convictions as soon as they’re released from prison — re-enfranchising … Continue reading
NYT: Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia used his executive power on Friday to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons, circumventing the Republican-run legislature. The action effectively overturns a Civil War-era provision in the state’s Constitution aimed, he … Continue reading
Important story in the Baltimore Sun. … Continue reading
ABC News: Iowa Supreme Court justices struggled Wednesday with difficult legal questions in a landmark case over whether to restore voting rights for tens of thousands of felons. During an hour of oral arguments, justices were divided and puzzled over … Continue reading
Alice Ollstein: The Federal District Court for Florida’s Northern District ruled Monday that the prison gerrymandering in Florida’s Jefferson County unconstitutionally dilutes the voting power of its residents. By packing inmates who can’t vote into a district, but counting them … Continue reading
Think Progress: Now, as the presidential primary descends upon his state, Meade is gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to allow Floridians convicted for non-violent crimes to automatically have their voting rights restored after completing … Continue reading