A ruling last year on Farrakhan v. Locke by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed earlier court rulings and set forth a new, nearly insurmountable standard for lawsuits attacking felon disfranchisement policies.

Ryan P. Haygood, Director of the Political Participation Group of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, explored the implications of the court’s ruling in a recent issue of the Columbia Law Review.

By The Editors
Florida Governor Rick Scott and the state’s top Republican officials who comprise the Florida Clemency Board Wednesday voted to toughen requirements for ex-inmates who were convicted of a felony to regain their right to vote.

Civil Rights Groups Urge Florida Board Of Executive Clemency Not To Further Restrict Voting Rights

Last evening, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rendered a decision in Farrakhan v. Gregoire that leaves a racially discriminatory disfranchisement law in place.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund will argue in an appeals court in San Francisco today that the state of Washington’s denial of voting rights to convicted felons is rooted in discrimination. By John Payton The most fundamental political right in our society is the right to vote. Today (Sept. 21) the U.S. Court of Appeals [...]

On Wednesday, April 28, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered rehearing in a case challenging Washington State’s racially discriminatory law that denies the vote to people with felony convictions. A panel of eleven judges will reconsider this important civil rights case.

By The Editors
This week, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) released Free the Vote: Unlocking Democracy in the Cells and on the Streets, a report detailing the impact felon disfranchisement laws have on communities of color nationwide.

By The Editors
In a precedent-setting decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down the state of Washington’s law barring felons from voting. It ruled that the law violates the federal Voting Rights Act because of widespread racism, racial discrimination and bias in the state’s criminal justice system.