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TN: ACLU Sues Tennessee's Felon Disenfranchisement Law As Modern Day Poll Tax

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

ACLU Sues Over Tennessee?s Felon Disenfranchisement Law 2/25/2008 Group Says Payment Provision Is A Modern Day ?Poll Tax? NASHVILLE ? The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Tennessee filed a lawsuit today in federal court challenging the state?s 2006 law that made the restoration of voting rights for people convicted of crimes contingent on the payment of all outstanding legal financial obligations (LFOs), namely restitution and child support fees. According to the ACLU?s lawsuit, requiring some individuals to bear an undue financial burden before voting is tantamount to a poll tax in violation of the constitutional right to vote and the Fourteenth Amendment?s equal protection clause. ?Reports show that, nationally, over 50 percent of criminal defendants are indigent at the time of sentencing...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).