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The 9th Circuit thinks so. In a case that seems destined to find its way to the Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit Cout of Appeals overturned a Washington state law that prohibits felons behind bars from voting. This isn’t an unusual law; only Maine and Vermont currently allow felons serving time to cast ballots. For the full AP story, click here.
In short, the court found that felon disenfranchisement laws are not race neutral because a disproportionate percentage of inmates are minorities. The attorney for Muhammad Shabazz Farrakhan, who was convicted of a series of felony-thefts and who brought the case, compared felony disenfranchisement laws to poll taxes and literacy tests.
