On July 22, the ACLU sued the Alabama Secretary of State, and county elections officials, over their arbitrary decisions over which crimes are serious enough to cause disenfranchisement of ex-felons. The Alabama Constitution says persons convicted of “moral turpitude” may not be registered, but no one knows which crimes that term includes. The lawsuit also attacks a state policy that awards a “voting pardon” on completion of a sentence, but only permits this pardon if that person paid all pending fines and restitution orders. The case is Baker v Chapman, state court, Montgomery.
One may recall that a couple of years ago, a Jefferson County, AL judge ordered the State to difen which crimes were of “moral turpitude”.
Interesting. Well, traditionally such a label was often used against persons convicted or accused of committing so-called “victimless” crimes.
I.e. prositutiton, pornography, adulutery, bigamy, fornication, homosexuality, etc. I am not sure how such a ban on “moral turpitude” voters would hold up in court.
I suspect — given the current USSC — they would probably uphold it for state elections, but possible not federal — if the crimes were not felonies.