This case is a companion suit to the state court case, Gooden v. Hunter [CJ-AL-0004]. In this action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the NAACP challenged the practice of the Alabama Secretary of State and state voter registrars refusing to register to vote those people with felony convictions not involving moral turpitude, unless they received a "Certificate of Eligibility" pursuant to Ala. Code § 15-22-36.1.

Plaintiff alleged the practice and law violated Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1973c. Plaintiff requested that their claims be heard by a three-judge panel and be declared unconstitutional.

On May 26, 2006, the three judge panel of the District Court (Judge Charles R. Wilson, Judge William M. Acker Jr. and Judge C. Lynwood Smith) denied plaintiff's request for declaratory relief and granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment. Costs were taxed against the plaintiff and the case was dismissed.

Dan Dalton - 11/27/2007


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