Published on: Saturday, April 29, 2023

The Alabama Constitution of 1901 was enacted with the specific purpose of establishing white supremacy. To accomplish this goal, the 1901 constitution, among other things, contained a provision disenfranchising anyone convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. After the Supreme Court held that provision unconstitutional in 1985, the state enacted a new constitutional amendment that disenfranchised only those who committed felonies involving moral turpitude. So we're good now? Eleventh Circuit: Yeah, this is fine. Dissent: Let's count the ways in which it is not fine. "Alabama has never stated that it amended its felon-disenfranchisement provision to correct the provision’s racist origins."

The case is Thompson v. Alabama, No. 21-10034 (11th Cir. Apr. 26, 2023).