New York: Disenfranchisement and the Legacy of Slavery

Last month, the New York State Assembly passed a bill apologizing for slavery in an effort to acknowledge the state's hand in the nation's unfortunate legacy which, amongst many other things, restricted black people from the polls - and continues to do so, according to an op-ed by Te-Ping Chen and Maggie Williams. New York law currently bans those incarcerated and on parole from voting. Hayden v. Pataki, a New York case brought before the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn the current law, was unsuccessful. The court dismissed the case in February 2005 concluding that "Congress did not intend the Voting Rights Act to cover such [felon disenfranchisement] provisions" and that such an application "would alter the constitutional balance between the States and the Federal Government." The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Community Service Society urged the Court to reconsider its decision last January. For coverage, see the Gotham Gazette.

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