Posted by
Chris Field on Friday, May 29, 2009 1:56:00 PM
Turns out Sotomayor bought into the race argument that not letting felons vote was unfair to blacks and Hispanics.
From the
Washington Times:
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor wants to give jailbirds the right
to vote. It's her opinion that the federal Voting Rights Act can be
used to force states to allow voting by currently imprisoned felons.
Ms. Sotomayor's dissenting opinion in a 2006 felon-voting case should
make senators extremely wary of confirming her for the high court.
In Hayden v. Pataki, a number of inmates in New York state
filed suit claiming that because blacks and Latinos make up a
disproportionate share of the prison population, the state's refusal to
allow them ballot access amounts to an unlawful, race-based denial of
their right to vote. Eight of 13 judges on the liberal-leaning Second
Circuit dismissed their arguments, and the 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled likewise in a similar case.
Yet, operating on a dubious and extremely broad reading of the
Voting Rights Act, Ms. Sotomayor dissented from the decision. In a
remarkably dismissive, four-paragraph opinion, she alleged that the
"plain terms" of the Voting Rights Act would allow such race-based
claims to go forward.
Read more...