Author: Erin Umberg

Do felony disenfranchisement laws in California violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

Do felony disenfranchisement laws in California violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

I.  Introduction Equal protection is once again the doctrine of the day. It figured prominently in the same-sex marriage cases: a losing argument in SCOCA, and the dispositive principle in SCOTUS. As Anne Gordon noted in her recent post entitled “Is SB 277 a denial of the right to education?,” the pending litigation over school funding (which will be heard before the California Court of Appeal on January 27 and is likely to reach SCOCA) also largely turns on equal protection. And there is another issue on the horizon that might ultimately call for SCOCA resolution: felon disenfranchisement. This post...