Federal Judiciary

New invitation brief

By Anna Christensen

Yesterday the Acting Solicitor General filed an invitation brief in Simmons v. Galvin (09-920), recommending that the Court deny certiorari.  At issue in Simmons is whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. § 1973, applies to state felon disenfranchisement laws that result in discrimination on the basis of race; and whether the Massachusetts felon disenfranchisement scheme established in 2000 violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution as applied to those Massachusetts felons who were incarcerated but had the right to vote prior to 2000.  The case page for Simmons is here; the Acting Solicitor General’s brief is available here.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).