Hunter et al. v. Underwood et al. (471 U.S. 222)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 16, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 471 U.S. 222 · 105 S. Ct. 1916
- Decided
- April 16, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. We are required in this case to decide the constitutionality of Art. VIII, §182, of the Alabama Constitution of 1901, which provides for. the disenfranchisement of persons convicted of, among other offenses, “any crime . . . involving moral turpitude.” Appellees Carmen Edwards, a black, and Victor Underwood, a white, have been blocked from the voter rolls pursuant to § 182 by the Boards of Registrars for Montgomery and Jefferson Counties, respectively, because they each have been convicted of presenting a worthless check. In determining that the misdemeanor of presenting a worthless check is a crime involving moral turpitude, the Registrars relied on opinions of the Alabama Attorney General. Edwards and Underwood sued the Montgomery and Jefferson Boards of Registrars under 42 U. S. C. §§ 1981 and 1983 for a declaration invalidating § 182 as applied to persons convicted of crimes not punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary (misdemeanors) and an injunction against its future application to such persons. After extensive proceedings not relevant here, the District Court certified a plaintiff class of persons who have been purged from the voting rolls or barred from registering to vote in Alabama solely because of a misdemeanor conviction and a defendant class of all members of the 67 Alabama County Boards of…
Excerpt of a 20,822-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.