A Washington State Supreme Court judge recently ruled in favor of givingvoting rights to felons, but the legislative branch doesn't quite agree. The 5.4 million people nationwide exiled from voting booths includes a disproportional amount of black and Latino voters; it's estimated 13 percent of African American men can't vote because of felon disenfranchisement, which is seven times the national average.
Federal judge Susan Bolton blocked key sections of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, which will go into effect Thursday. After this injunction, police will not be permitted to check the citizenship status of people they think may be illegal.
- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says the ruling is a "temporary bump in the road" and she's planning to appeal.
- Five other states are considering similar anti-illegal immigrant legislation.
Voters in Fremont, Neb. approved a ban on hiring or renting property to illegal
immigrants. The city has since suspended
the ordinance. - Daily Kos reports that two of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's advisers are connected to the private prison
company Corrections Corporation of America. Blogger Lawrence Lewis speculates
there could have been a financial incentive behind Brewer's advocacy for the immigration legislation.
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Filed under: Criminal Justice, Government and Politics, Immigration
