Good news for Siegelman and Scrushy!

Ruling may allow felons to vote

Three notes on this ruling by Jefferson County Judge Robert Vance Jr.:

1. Nancy Worley, in her usual understated way, says that this will lead to polling places in prisons, which will certainly present a problem in getting volunteers to work the polling places.

2. The ruling is on hold while the Justice Department reviews it for compliance with the Voting Rights Act. Note that the people who are most outraged by this ruling (they rhyme with "Bopublican") are also the people who want Alabama to not be subject to VRA review. Ooops!

3. The ruling states, basically, that the law banning felons from voting is defective because it bans people who commit crimes of "moral turpitude", where "moral turpitude" has not been defined. I am eagerly awaiting the legislature's debate on bills defining "moral turpitude".