Opinion ID: 203934
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Post-1982 Congressional Actions Assume the Validity of State and Federal Felon Disenfranchisement Laws

Text: Congressional action, both after 1982 and in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore , also undercuts the plaintiffs' reading of the amended § 2 to support a claim against imprisoned felon disenfranchisement laws. These statutes show continuing congressional approval of state laws disenfranchising imprisoned felons. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which generally restricts states' ability to remove names from the voter rolls, explicitly exempts state decisions to disenfranchise individuals by reason of criminal conviction. 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-6(a)(3)(B). The Help America Vote Act of 2002 directs states to remove disenfranchised felons from their lists of those eligible to vote in federal elections. 42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(2)(A)(ii)(I). These two recent statutes are entirely inconsistent with reading § 2, whatever its breadth, to create a cause of action against Article 120. Further, Congress has continued to consider and reject numerous proposals to require states to enfranchise even former felons. Even these efforts have expressly excluded currently incarcerated felons. See, e.g., Civic Participation and Rehabilitation Act of 1999: Hearing on H.R. 906 Before the Subcomm. on the Constitution of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 106th Cong. 1, 3 (2000) (quoting H.R. 906, 106th Cong. (1999)). [22] Congress has excepted from the reach of the VRA protections from vote denial for claims against a state which disenfranchises incarcerated felons. We do not need to decide [23] what is needed to prove a denial (as opposed to a dilution) claim under § 2 which is not a claim against a state provision disenfranchising imprisoned felons. [24] Given the historic legitimacy of felon disenfranchisement, the constitutional recognition of the authority of states to disenfranchise imprisoned felons, the congressional recognition of that authority and the express congressional statements that the VRA was not meant to proscribe that authority, this is not the case in which to test the standards for other types of purported direct disenfranchisement claims. While our emphasis is somewhat different, we agree with the Second Circuit in Hayden that the seven circumstances it identifies all necessitate the conclusion that the this claim is not actionable. 449 F.3d at 315-16. Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim under VRA § 2. We have no need to reach the serious constitutional questions which the Commonwealth argues would be raised were we to adopt plaintiffs' construction of the statute. In Northwest Austin, the Supreme Court emphasized the principle that courts, particularly in VRA cases, should avoid deciding constitutional issues where statutory interpretation obviates the issue, as here. Nw. Austin, 129 S.Ct. at  (Our usual practice is to avoid the unnecessary resolution of constitutional questions.); see also Hayden, 449 F.3d at 328 n. 24; Johnson, 405 F.3d at 1230.