Brennan Center for Justice

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children v. Bowen is a class action Equal Protection challenge to California’s disenfranchisement law, which bars persons with felony convictions from voting while they are in prison and on parole. Plaintiffs are a class of disenfranchised persons currently on parole.

First, plaintiffs claim that Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the denial or abridgement of the right to vote except in cases of “rebellion, or other crime,” only authorizes the disenfranchisement of persons that have committed felonies as defined at common law.  Because California law bars persons convicted of any felony from voting, the law is not exempted by Section Two and thus must pass strict scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Second, petitioners contend that Section Two does not authorize the disenfranchisement of people on parole. Petitioners claim that the California law disproportionately affects the same voters that Section Two sought to enfranchise: African Americans. Thus, they argue, the law is neither condoned under Section Two nor necessary to serve a compelling state interest, and so it violates the Equal Protection Clause.

On October 2, 2007, Legal Services for Prisoner’s With Children and The Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents filed a petition for writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court. On January 3, 2008, the Court transferred the case to the California Court of Appeals, First Appellate District, and November 21, 2008 it was argued and submitted to the Court for review.

The ACLU of Northern California and Impact Fund filed a joint amicus brief in support of the Petitioners on June 19, 2008.

On January 22nd, the California Court of Appeals denied the plantiff's claim that "other crimes" described in Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment is only limited to common law felonies. 

Related Court Documents

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children v. Bowen – Petitioners Petition for Writ of Mandate (10/2/2007)

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children v. Bowen - ACLU and Impact Fund Amici Curiae (6/19/2008)

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children v. Bowen - Court of Appeals of the State of California Ruling (1/22/2009)