Minnesota Supreme Court Rules Current Felon Voting Ban Constitutional, Leaves Issue to Legislature

Razor wire is seen on the Metropolitan Detention Center prison in Los Angeles, on July 14, 2019. (David McNew/Getty Images)

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Feb. 15 upheld the state’s law that bars felons from voting while on parole, ruling that the law doesn’t violate the fundamental right to vote or the principle of equal protection within the state’s constitution.

The long-awaited decision comes more than a year after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued the case before the Minnesota Supreme Court on Nov. 30, 2021, in hopes of restoring voting rights to more than 50,000 people in the state with active felony records, local Fox News affiliate Fox 9 reported.

“We believe the law is discriminatory, leading to racial disparities in voting that in turn lead to political inequality,” ACLU of Minnesota staff attorney David McKinney said in a statement. “The criminal legal system’s goal is rehabilitation, redemption, and helping people rejoin their communities—this law clearly serves none of these purposes.”

According to the Minnesota constitution, a person is ineligible to vote in the state if they have been “convicted of treason or felony, unless restored to civil rights.”

Current state law states that after people who were deprived of their civil rights due to a criminal conviction are discharged, they may have all their civil rights restored to full citizenship, “with full right to vote ... the same as if such conviction hadn’t taken place.”

Proponents of the lawsuit wanted voting eligibility automatically restored once a felon is released from prison, so while felons are on parole or supervised release, they can exercise their right to vote.

However, in the opinion, Republican-appointed Minnesota Supreme Court Judge Paul Thissen wrote that just because the two plaintiffs were out of prison and “now living in the community while on probation or supervised release,” this does not mean that their voting rights were automatically restored upon “release from incarceration.” Rather, a completion of their full sentence—including any probation or supervised release—is required.

Thissen found that current Minnesota law “does not violate the fundamental right to vote” and the plaintiffs did not offer “sufficient evidence to prove” that state law “violates the equal protection principles in the Minnesota Constitution.”

The decision follows a lawsuit, Schroeder v. Simon, filed by two Minnesotans.

One of them had been convicted of “first-degree sale of a controlled substance.” Rather than giving her a “presumptive” 98-month prison term, the sentencing judge placed her on 40 years probation, keeping her from voting until 2053 when she turns 71.

The second was convicted of “second-degree intentional murder” and sentenced to 306 months in prison, releasing him in 2016 on supervised release, which is set to expire in 2025.

Both gave examples of how they’ve taken proactive steps to change their lives for the better. Both claimed their rights had been violated because they were denied the right to vote while living in their communities.

They had appealed their case to Minnesota’s Supreme Court after a lower court denied their claims, Kare 11 News reported.

Minnesota Legislature Left to Pick Up Felon Voting Rights Cause

“The people of Minnesota made the choice to establish a constitutional baseline that persons convicted of a felony are not entitled or permitted to vote, and the people of Minnesota have not seen fit to amend the constitution to excise the felon voting prohibition,” Thissen wrote in his opinion.

Although the current state law “passes constitutional muster, we recognize the troubling consequences, including the disparate racial impacts,” Thissen further wrote. “The Legislature retains the power to respond to those consequences. The Minnesota Constitution empowers the Legislature to address the public policy concerns raised ... in this case.”

The decision came as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party has control of the governor’s residence and both the Minnesota House and Senate following the 2022 November midterm elections, albeit a razor-thin 34–33 margin in the Senate, Fox 9 News reported.

Efforts are underway to restore felons’ voting rights and are moving forward quickly in the state’s legislature.

The House passed H.F. 28 with a 71–59 vote two weeks ago on Feb. 2.

If passed, the bill requires the secretary of state to change “the certification portion of voter registration forms and publicize the change to formerly incarcerated people,” costing the state roughly $14,000, Fox 9 News reported.

The Senate is currently awaiting a final vote on its companion bill, S.F. 26.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, in 21 states nationwide, felons only lose their voting rights while they are in prison and regain them automatically upon release.

In two other states, Maine and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia, people in prison never lose their voting privileges.

In 11 states, felons may lose their voting rights indefinitely for particular crimes, or they may require a governor’s pardon to get them restored. Some of these states call for an additional waiting period after the full completion of their sentences.

In 16 states, including Minnesota, felons lose their voting rights while incarcerated and for some time afterward, typically during their parole or probation periods. Once sentences are fully served, voting rights are automatically restored. In some of these states, felons must first pay additional fines, fees, or restitution before being able to vote.

Minnesota has some of the shortest prison sentences in the United States but some of the longest probation lengths, according to Fox 9 News.

From NTD News