Date Set for Washington State Felon Disenfranchisement Court Case

This story is from an update by our allies at The Sentencing Project. 

Note that Washington State's Felony disenfranchisement laws are actually much more progressive than Kentucky's and are similar to what ours will be if we succeed in passing House Bill 70 to automatically restore voting rights to former felons once they have served their debt to society.  The photo to the right is from our march at the Roots and Heritage Festival a few days ago. 

The full 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has set a September 21st hearing date for a challenge of Washington State's ban on imprisoned and community supervised felons. A three-judge panel of the same Court had previously found the ban to be a violation of the Voting Rights Act and the constitutional rights of felons in a 2-1 ruling. The court based its finding on the grounds that the state's criminal justice system is "infected" with racial discrimination. However, that ruling has been put on hold pending the appeal.

The policy dates back to the time when Washington was still a territory.  The case will be personally argued by Attorney General Rob McKenna for the state, backed by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Known as the Farrakhan case, the lawsuit has been in play for over 14 years and is one of Washington's longest running. KNDO reports that, "if the en banc panel affirms the three-judge panel, the case will be ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review" and that both the Attorney General and the Secretary of State are prepared for such an outcome.

A separate Seattle Times opinion piece by John Payton and Ryan Haygood of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund presents the case against the state. They argue that Washington State has never disputed court findings that African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than similarly situated whites, and that this difference "clearly hinders the ability of minorities to participate effectively in the political process." They claim that Washington has an admittedly discriminatory justice system that cannot and should not be used to take away the most basic right of a free democracy.