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May 29, 2009
Judge Sotomayor's dissent on Hayden v. Pataki
* ProgressiveSouth's diary--
Voting experts point to two areas where Judge Sotomayor's rulings have stood out:
FELON DISENFRANCHISEMENT: Judge Sotomayor's biggest voting rights case has likely been Hayden v Pataki. In this 2006 case in the 2nd Circuit, ex-felon Joseph "Jazz" Hayden brought a challenge under the Voting Rights Act against New York's law banning ex-felons from voting. Civil rights advocates had mobilized around the case, saying felon disenfranchisement laws showed a clear history of racial discrimination.
The majority dismissed the case, but Judge Sotomayour dissented, saying the issue of discrimination was actually quite simple, as SCOTUSBLOG reports:
[Sotomayor] opined that the issue was actually much simpler than the majority and concurring opinions would suggest: the VRA "applies to all 'voting qualifications,'" and - in her view - the state law "disqualifies a group of people from voting." "These two propositions," she concluded, "should constitute the entirety of our analysis."
From: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/26/735575/-Sotomayor-nomination-sets-up-big-battle-over-voting-rights
Posted by lois at May 29, 2009 05:16 PM