Devildogg4ever
07-26-03, 05:30 AM
OLYMPIA -- The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a challenge by minority inmates to Washington's practice of taking away felons' voting rights while they're behind bars.
The San Francisco-based court didn't side with the inmates and restore voting rights for convicts but agreed yesterday that their claims of bias deserve a full airing.
The appeals courts sent the case back to U.S. District Court in Spokane for a full hearing on whether there is bias in Washington's criminal justice system. The hearing also is to determine whether taking away voting rights of minority felons violates the federal Voting Rights Act.
The court acknowledged that it's asking the District Court to wade into a thorny case.
"We recognize that this is a difficult issue and that it requires a searching inquiry into all factors," Judge Richard Paez wrote for the court.
The court said the Voting Rights Act is rigorous in its demands for equal access to the ballot box.
"Permitting a citizen, even a convicted felon, to challenge felon-disenfranchisement laws that result in either the denial of the right to vote or vote dilution on account of race animates the right that every citizen has of protection against racially discriminatory voting practices," Paez wrote.
District Judge Robert Whaley had previously dismissed the case brought by six inmates.
He said their research on racial discrimination and underrepresentation in the electorate was compelling, but the convicts had failed to show the state's disenfranchisement policy was "motivated by racial animus, or that its operation by itself has a discriminatory effect."
The appeals court said states conceptually can take away felons' voting rights without violating the U.S. Constitution, but when that has the effect of racial discrimination, inmates have a right to seek redress.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/132531_felonvote26.html
The San Francisco-based court didn't side with the inmates and restore voting rights for convicts but agreed yesterday that their claims of bias deserve a full airing.
The appeals courts sent the case back to U.S. District Court in Spokane for a full hearing on whether there is bias in Washington's criminal justice system. The hearing also is to determine whether taking away voting rights of minority felons violates the federal Voting Rights Act.
The court acknowledged that it's asking the District Court to wade into a thorny case.
"We recognize that this is a difficult issue and that it requires a searching inquiry into all factors," Judge Richard Paez wrote for the court.
The court said the Voting Rights Act is rigorous in its demands for equal access to the ballot box.
"Permitting a citizen, even a convicted felon, to challenge felon-disenfranchisement laws that result in either the denial of the right to vote or vote dilution on account of race animates the right that every citizen has of protection against racially discriminatory voting practices," Paez wrote.
District Judge Robert Whaley had previously dismissed the case brought by six inmates.
He said their research on racial discrimination and underrepresentation in the electorate was compelling, but the convicts had failed to show the state's disenfranchisement policy was "motivated by racial animus, or that its operation by itself has a discriminatory effect."
The appeals court said states conceptually can take away felons' voting rights without violating the U.S. Constitution, but when that has the effect of racial discrimination, inmates have a right to seek redress.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/132531_felonvote26.html