Hunter v. Underwood

Background

A Black man and a white man were removed from Alabama voter rolls after being convicted of presenting a worthless check, because the state constitution bars people convicted of “crimes involving moral turpitude.” Boards of Registrars used state court and Attorney General opinions to exclude people for many minor crimes. The plaintiffs sued, a class of similarly affected misdemeanants was certified, and lower courts disagreed about whether the 1901 constitutional provision was adopted to disenfranchise Black voters.

Reasoning

The Court examined whether the 1901 convention enacted the crimes provision with a racial purpose and whether a facially neutral law with a disparate racial effect violates the Constitution’s equal protection guarantee. Reviewing convention records, historians’ testimony, and evidence of disproportionate impact, the Court agreed with the Court of Appeals that delegates intended to disenfranchise Black citizens. Applying the test used for laws with mixed motives, the Court held that the provision’s racist purpose and its ongoing effect make it unconstitutional as applied to misdemeanants.

Real world impact

As a result, Alabama officials must allow qualifying people who were purged solely because of misdemeanor convictions covered by that provision to register and vote. The Court emphasized that later court decisions striking some specific provisions do not cure the original discriminatory enactment, and it rejected arguments that other parts of the Constitution or later events validate the racially motivated measure.