O'Brien v. Skinner

Background

Seventy-two people detained in a county jail—some awaiting trial, others serving misdemeanor sentences—asked Monroe County election officials for help registering and voting before the November 1972 election. They sought a mobile registration unit in the jail, guarded transport to polling places, or permission to use absentee voting. New York law allowed absentee registration or voting for people who were ill, physically disabled, on duty or away from their home county, or in veterans’ hospitals. Lower New York courts said jailed residents should be allowed to register and vote by absentee ballot; the New York Court of Appeals reversed and refused relief.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court considered whether the state court’s reading of the election laws arbitrarily denied eligible jailed residents the right to vote. The Court found that, as construed by the state high court, some eligible voters confined in their home county had no way to register or vote while similarly confined people in other counties could. That unequal treatment placed a severe burden on the right to vote and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reversed the state decision.

Real world impact

The ruling requires New York to provide a means for eligible jailed residents confined in their home county to register and vote or to provide an equivalent method. County election officials must consider alternatives such as in-jail registration, use of absentee procedures, or supervised transport. The case was sent back to the lower courts for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s equal-protection ruling.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Marshall (joined by Justices Douglas and Brennan) concurred and urged stricter review, stressing that denial effectively eliminated the right to vote; Justice Blackmun (joined by Justice Rehnquist) dissented, favoring legislative solutions and cautioning against judicial intervention.