It was a stirring moment in 2018 when 64 percent of Florida voters passed Amendment 4, which ended the state’s felony disenfranchisement system, a direct legacy of Jim Crow. After a trial court victory that blocked the “pay to vote” law passed by the Florida Legislature, we had high hopes that the 1.4 million people with past felony convictions could at last exercise their right to vote. That was not to be.

A very disappointing ruling by the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals last week overturned the trial court and let the egregious law stand, affecting more than half of all Floridians disenfranchised by a past conviction. Working with the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, NAACP LDF, and the law firm Paul, Weiss, we litigated this case at every stage. The ruling was truly misguided: not only could the state force citizens to pay, but it had no obligation to tell them what they owed. As a dissenting judge wrote, this “has all the certainty of counting jellybeans in a jar,” a notorious test used during segregation to disenfranchise Black voters. // Politico

Though most federal and state courts initially closed their doors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many are now rapidly adapting their operations as they seek to establish a new normal. Several jurisdictions have resumed some version of in-person proceedings, and most states have allowed judges to resume eviction and foreclosure hearings. Still, at least 86 of the country’s 94 federal district courts and all of the federal appellate courts are opting to hold at least some of their hearings remotely. This analysis by Janna Adelstein looks at these changes and identifies how courts might continue to evolve. // Read More

Time is short to make needed changes to our election system so voters can have convenient and safe options for returning ballots received in the mail. One helpful change that has received less attention: allowing voters to return absentee ballots to a polling place, particularly at early voting sites. “Allowing voters to return their ballots at polling places would vastly expand the number of places for voters to return them without a need to acquire and install a great deal of equipment,” writes Raúl Macías. Also, he notes another upside: “returning ballots to polling places will avoid risks of postal service delays resulting in rejected ballots.” // Read More

This summer, a Black family was arrested and held down on hot asphalt after an automatic license plate reader (ALPR) said their SUV was a stolen motorcycle from another state. The growing use of ALPRs means police can now receive alerts about a vehicle’s movements in real time and review past movements at the touch of a button. But like a lot of surveillance tools, ALPRs don’t always work, and computer errors can have real world consequences. This new report by Ángel Díaz and Rachel Levinson-Waldman analyzes the legal and policy landscape of this pervasive surveillance tool. // Read More

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who campaigned on police reform, recently announced expanded social media monitoring and created a “rapid response” team under the guise of addressing looting. This response likely won’t make Chicago safer. Instead, it will further entrench an unproven and discriminatory surveillance system that has long targeted the city’s Black and brown communities. “The surveillance system will outlast any protest movement, and will continue the pattern of treating communities of color as inherently suspicious,” writes Ángel Díaz. // Chicago Reporter

• VIRTUAL EVENT: Incarceration and Inequality
  Wednesday, September 16 | 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. EDT
  The United States’ 400-year history of racial injustice continues to produce profound economic inequalities today. Join Wes Moore (New York Times bestselling author and CEO of Robin Hood) and experts from the Brennan Center’s Justice Program for a discussion on why ending mass incarceration is both a moral and economic imperative and a vital step toward closing the racial wealth gap.
  This event is produced in partnership with Robin Hood, New York University’s John Brademas Center, and NYU Votes. RSVP today.

• VIRTUAL EVENT: Transformative Criminal Justice Reform: Where Do We Go From Here?
  Friday, September 25 | 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. EDT
  What’s next for criminal justice reform — and what will it take for the United States to truly grapple with its long history of racial injustice? Join Laura Arnold (cofounder of Arnold Ventures), Lauren-Brooke Eisen (director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program), Rashad Robinson (president of Color of Change), Topeka K. Sam (founder and executive director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries), Bruce Western (Bryce Professor of Sociology and Social Justice and codirector of the Justice Lab at Columbia University), and Melissa Murray (professor at NYU School of Law) for a discussion about potential courses of action during a pivotal time — after months of renewed racial reckoning, amid a public health crisis that has disproportionately impacted Black and Latino Americans, and before a critical national election.
  This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center and NYU Votes. RSVP today.

• Ángel Díaz on privacy concerns with the Citizen app’s contact tracing // CNET
• Michael German on links between white supremacists and law enforcement // Daily Kos
• Rachel Levinson-Waldman on police accountability in Chicago // Chicago Tribune
• Myrna Pérez on what not to expect on election night // Teen Vogue
• Michael Waldman on Trump’s threat to democracy // The Guardian // LA Times
• Michael Waldman and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf on the Miami mayor’s rejection of the NBA’s polling site offer // Miami Herald
• Wendy Weiser on concerns over tossed ballots // NBC News
• Thomas Wolf on the lawsuit stop the Trump administration’s rushed census timeline // CBS News