In a dispute involving the disenfranchisement of incarcerated felons and the Voting Rights Act, district court judgment is reversed in part and affirmed in part where: 1) plaintiffs’ challenge to the statute should be dismissed as plaintiffs failed to state a claim under Voting Rights Act sec. 2, and it is clear from the language, history, and context of the Act that Congress never intended sec. 2 to prohibit the states from disenfranchising currently incarcerated felons; and 2) the court properly granted summary judgment on plaintiff’s Ex Post Facto claim as the disputed state statute is a civil regulatory scheme.
Read Simmons v. Galvin, No. 08-1569
Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Decided: July 31, 2009
JudgesBefore Lynch, Chief Judge, Torruella and Boudin, Circuit Judges.Opinion by Lynch, Chief Judge.
CounselFor Appellant: Kenneth W. Salinger, Assistant Attorney General.
For Appellee: Christopher P. Silva.
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