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Posted on 01/06/2010 3:46:57 PM PST by jazusamo
Washington state will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn a surprising federal court ruling that tossed out the state's 120-year-old prohibition against voting by incarcerated felons, Attorney General Rob McKenna said today.
The ruling, handed down Tuesday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S> Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle, found that Washington's criminal-justice system was so "infected" with racial discrimination that a ban on felon voting violated civil-rights protections.
The state hoped to have the case heard during the U.S. Supreme Court's fall session, McKenna told reporters at a hastily-arranged news conference at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Meanwhile, the state also plans to file by next week a motion to stall enactment of the court ruling. McKenna said courts routinely grant such motions if a case is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court ruling involved a 1996 lawsuit filed by a group of black, Latino and Native American prison inmates who were disenfranchised because of felony convictions.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
WA Ping!
Suprised but happy to see it will be appealed.
As a former felon and legal voter, I have to say that prison voting is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
Every left wing special interest group from NAMBLA to NORML will rush the prison to promote their chosen candidates.
Yep, but nothing surprises me any longer coming from the 9th circus.
The absurdity of this is unbelievable.
Imagine the local election for county sheriff.
The inmates would vote on who their jailer should be.
I believe Maine is the only state that allows inmate voting.
I haven't read the ruling, but I'm fairly sure that the judges presented zero evidence of "racial discrimination" beyond statistical imbalances in the inmate population.
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
Quick link: WA State Board
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Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
As a former cop (retired) and legal voter, I have to say that I completely agree with you. ;>)
This garbage is insane. Those irresponsible idiot judges need their ropes taken away. Murderers, rapists, burglars, thieves, armed robbers, pedophiles, extremely violent folks and on and on, would now have the right to impact the very society that they themselves chose to leave.
Leave it to a lib to come up with something this nuts.
All of us make mistakes in life, some are made to pay the consequences for those choices. Some never learn or change.... some do and they work their way back to a responsible way of life.
Those in prison should have no business in determining what my neighborhood, life or future should be.
their ropes taken away.=their roBes taken away.
I haven’t read the ruling either but I don’t understand how the 9th circus can equate racial discrimination to voter rights. I believe minorities have larger per capita percentages incarcerated in every state.
I live in Jackson County Michigan. With inmate voting Willie “Free willy Jr” Anderson may well have won the Sheriff’s spot. Fortunately he only got 33% of the vote.
Not too long ago Newt called for the abolishment of the 9th Circus Court. He was right on. They are NVTZ!
The entire argument is based on the “disproportionate” number of minorities in prison. If you asked these people for evidence of actual discrimination, they would give you statistics.
One gets the idea that in a liberal’s ideal world, whites and Asians would just be plucked off the street at random for incarceration so that the inmate population would “reflect society.”
"Equality of outcome" is every liberal's Nirvana.
But, then, there's reality -- which makes every liberal "uncomfortable".
But I think the prisoners will enjoy the many benefits coming their way as they are courted.
Good point!
Tho this article doesn’t point it out one of the two judges making this ruling was Judge Stephen Reinhardt, one of if not the most liberal judge on the 9th circus and that’s saying something.
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