On Tuesday, September 21st, LDF will argue before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of plaintiffs challenging the state of Washington’s racially discriminatory law denying the right to vote from those convicted of felonies. A panel of the Court of Appeals ruled previously in January that, in Washington State, “minorities are more likely than whites to be searched, arrested, detained, and ultimately prosecuted,” and that, because “some people becom[e] felons not just because they have committed a crime, but because of their race, then that felon status cannot, under section 2 of the [Voting Rights Act], disqualify felons from voting.”
Plaintiffs will be represented at oral argument by Ryan Haygood, Co-Director of LDF’s Political Participation Group. Rob McKenna, Attorney General of the State of Washington, will represent Defendants. Proceedings will be available on C-SPAN 3 at a later time.
