On February 25, 2008, Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division. Plaintiffs are all Tennessee residents and convicted felons. Plaintiffs sought to invalidate those portions of Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-29-202 that condition the restoration of voting rights for people previously convicted of "infamous crimes" upon their payment of certain legal financial obligations, namely restitution and child support. Plaintiffs assert that this statute, by denying the vote to those who have not satisfied certain legal financial obligations, violates their fundamental right to vote and discriminates among citizens on the basis of wealth. More specifically, Plaintiffs claim that the statute at issue violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Ex Post-Facto Clauses of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions, the Privileges and Immunities Clauses of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions, and the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. Plaintiffs named as Defendants those state and county officials, in their official capacity, responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the state statutory scheme as it pertains to voter eligibility and registration. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief, nominal damages, attorney's fees and costs.

On June 23, 2008, the District Court (Judge Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr.) denied the county officials' motions to dismiss. On July 28, 2008, Plaintiffs amended their complaint. Thereafter, both parties filed motions for judgment on the pleadings. On September 22, 2008, the District Court (Judge Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr.) granted Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as to the constitutional challenges contained in the Amended Complaint, finding that Plaintiffs' constitutional challenges lacked merit.

Plaintiffs appealed to the Sixth Circuit. On October 28, 2010, in a published opinion, the Court of Appeals (Judge Deborah L. Cook) affirmed the District Court's decision.

On May 24, 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States denied cert.

Xin Chen - 06/22/2011


compress summary